Still Flying
by xfirefly9x
Summary: Firefly/SG-1. SG-1 is stranded in the Firefly universe. They join forces with the crew of Serenity in the hopes to find a way back home. Thanks to Celine for the beta help!
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** SG-1 comes into the story in part 3. **  
**_

**Still Flying**

"How are those crates going?" Mal asks on his way through the cargo bay. His boots clatter loudly on the floor and send a layer of dust up into the air. He scrunches up his nose and then pinches the bridge of it between index finger and thumb.

Zoe barely looks up, muttering an 'almost done' back to him. Jayne on the other hand drops the crate he'd been carrying into place and does nothing to help Zoe further. Rather he stands and glares at Mal. "Ain't nearly as easy with no mule, ya know," he points out. He swipes his forehead with the back of his hand. "Don't see neither why you ain't lending a hand."

"I'm the Captain," Mal replies easily. "Now quit complainin' and get to it. Ain't too long til we're off this rock and on our merry."

Sighing loudly, Jayne reaches for another crate. This one wavers in his arms, allowing it to tilt on it's side. Dirt falls form a gap in the top of the box that could be used as a handle. He cusses and levels it once more.

"Best not drop any of those," Mal says. He raises an eyebrow. "Our clients promised a small fortune for this lot and if it's broke when we get there..."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," Jayne butts in. "What is this stuff anyhow? Not that it matters none. Weighs more 'n an elephant."

"And you would know that how? Ever tried pickin' up an elephant in your bare hands, Jayne?" Zoe adds.

Scowling, Jayne shakes his head. "Course not. That's not what I-"

"Jayne. Just get back to work," she says between heaving more crates. Sweat glistens on her forehead and arms. Even in the chill of night air, the work is hard. The cover of darkness, a requirement of the job thanks to the very strict instructions set by their employer, is perhaps the worst aspect of it. Otherwise it's just their usual, run of the mill, pick up and deliver jobs. With the pick up nearly done – six more crates left to bring into the ship, Mal notes – they'll be on their way to the delivery post in no time and collecting the cashy money promised to them.

Mal nods to Zoe and then continues on to the bridge. He finds Wash, brow furrowed in concentration and two plastic dinosaurs in his hands. Words fall from his lips so softly Mal can barely make them out.

"Now that's a good girl, Shelly," he says to the T-Rex. "You apologize to our dear Markus there, who you killed and stole the land from. Ahh. Yes. That's good, see? You two be friends now." He holds the dinosaurs close together. "No! Markus! Revenge is not sweet. Revenge is bad! Stop with the revenge! Argh!"

"Wash?"

"Hmmm...what? Captain?"

Mal crosses his arms across his chest, takes a last step forwards and stares out the glass panel into the black of night. Stars prick the darkness every so often like ants scattered across a picnic blanket. Where there are no stars for some time, the blackness is impenetrable. Building tops obscure the view.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Mal murmurs.

Wash smiles even as he narrows his eyes. "Ah, yes? Sir?"

"Y'all ready to get off this piece of rock?"

"Sure am."

"Good." Mal smiles thinly. "Let's set a course for the drop off point, all right?"

"Yep. Already onto that."

"Great. How long til we arrive?"

Wash glances at the screen displaying the ships stats, their current location and the delivery location. "I'd say," he starts. "Hmm. Four, four and half hours? Give or take."

"Perfect." That said, Mal reaches for the comm and presses the button in. "This is the Captain," he announces, finding a little thrill at the fact that his voice is now bouncing down through Serenity's belly to the rest of the crew. "Zoe, we all set to go?" He waits.

A moment later there's a burst of static and the voice of his second in command. "We're all set, Captain. Cargo bay doors are closed and we got the goods away."

"Shiny," he replies. To Wash, he aims a smile and a nod. "Onwards to Cirec."

"Onwards indeed." Wash immediately shifts into pilot mode and Mal watches as he presses a combination of buttons and levers and the engines sputter to life and begin their familiar hum. The awakening of Serenity sends vibrations through their bodies and alights the feeling of freedom in Mal. This is it. This is his true love, taking to the sky in the ship he loves. It's freeing.

"Let me know when we get there." Grinning to himself, Mal turns and moves off the bridge, leaving a very focused Wash to navigate the universe and get them to the drop off point. In the hallway just outside the mess, he nearly collides with Inara. "Whoa, hey!"

"Hello, Mal." She seems unaffected by their run in. "I hear it's not too long a trip this time."

"Uh, yeah. Four or five hours thereabouts, Wash said," he fills her in. "We'll settle for the night then deliver the goods come daylight."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

"I don't suppose we'll be heading somewhere I can find decent clientele afterwards?"

He attempts to hide his disdain but fails miserably and is rewarded with an equally frustrated look. "Sure, we'll be onto the rich and fanciful planets in no time. Got a possible job lined up on one of the core planets once we're done with this lot."

"That's great. Thank you."

"No problem." Bowing in mock respect, he hurries past her and fixes himself some dinner. He's halfway through eating when River's slender figure slips in through the door and joins him at the table. She peers at him through curious eyes and his jaw stops moving for a second under her gaze. Unnerved, he forces himself to swallow the food and pastes a smile onto his face.

"Hey, little one. Where's your big brother gone to?"

"Away. With Kaylee," she murmurs.

"Right."

"He likes to see her. Can't find the courage to tell her."

Mal raises an eyebrow.

"The plan is faulty," she adds suddenly.

"Huh?"

"The plan. Something will go wrong."

"With Simon? And, uh, Kaylee?" he wonders aloud.

River looks at him as if he's an idiot child. "The job."

"What's gonna go wrong?"

She simply smiles at him and then reaches over and steals a bit of his protein bar before he can stop her. Happily, she prances away through the same door she entered.

Under his breath he mutters, "Was it too much to hope a job might actually go to plan for once?"

"Sir?"

He glances up to see Zoe enter from where River just disappeared. "Ah, nothing."

"Something's wrong?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, he leans back in his chair and threads his fingers in his hair. "Maybe. Just something River said."

"You know the girl is crazy, right? She's a sweet thing, I'll admit, but do you really think there's anything to her words?"

Mal removes his hands from his hair and sets them on the table in front of him. He stares at the remains of his dinner and then looks Zoe in the eyes. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"I guess we will," she agrees.

**TBC...**


	2. Chapter 2

Mal is in his bunk, sitting on the edge of his bed and staring blankly ahead, when the comm system is attacked by a flicker of static. He doesn't react at first. A long day behind him, his mind isn't at it's most fresh state and the crackle of the comm isn't nearly as important as the speck of dust on the wall in front of him.

"Mal! Mal, you awake?"

He says nothing.

Wash tries again. "Mal? We've reached Cirec. I'm setting us down now."

This time, Mal sighs and lets his body return to the present and function once more. He reaches for the comm. "Thanks, Wash. Any troubles?"

"Nada. We're all clear."

"Good. Do your thing and then get some rest. Got another big day ahead of us."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

"And Wash?" he says.

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever say that again."

There's a pause and then Wash says, "All right. Sorry, sir. I will find an alternative phrasing to use. How's... hmm. How's 'all righty, then, sir?' Or... You know what? I'll get back to you on more ideas. Because I'm sure I can come up with something much more suited to our ways and... I'll stop talking now."

"Right then," Mal mutters.

"Good night, Mal."

He runs his tongue across his lips. "Night, Wash." He sheds his shirt, turns in and is sound asleep within twenty minutes. When he next opens his eyes, he pulls on a clean shirt and changes his trousers, looping the suspenders over his shoulders. Lastly, he checks his belt and holster and slides his gun down into it, securing it safely but at the ready should he need it.

His footsteps are loud in the otherwise quiet of the ship and even the hum of the engines doesn't help to dim the noise. As he nears the bridge he can hear muffled voices. Wash and Zoe, he guesses and when he is close enough, he sees that he is right. "Mornin'," he announces his presence.

They both turn and look at him. "Morning, Mal," Wash says.

"Sir," Zoe adds.

"How's it going?"

"We're good," Zoe answers for them. "We were just discussing the logistics of this job."

"Logistics. Huh."

"Yep, logistics," Wash replied unhelpfully.

"Getting the goods to our clients. That sort of thing, sir."

"Ah. Right. Of course." He nods and then gestures out front. "Anyway, Zoe. We'd best be off to meet Heimedall and the gang in a few."

"I'm ready when you are, sir."

"Shiny. Let's lose us some cargo."

Together they head for the cargo bay where Jayne is already piling crates they'd hidden in case of surprise visitors onto the back of the mule. He grunts at them when they join him in fixing up the crates and continues to work. Ten minutes of hard work later, Mal and Zoe climb aboard the mule and Zoe directs it down the ramp to the sandy ground.

Heimedall is waiting with two lackeys and his own mule in the arranged location. A cowboy hat slanted at an angle over his face hides his eyes and dirty brown hair falls to his shoulders. His boots are black with scratches and dust marking them. He's wearing a gray coat over a similar coloured shirt and dark trousers. "Captain Reynolds, I presume? How are you two fellas? Happy as a kitten?"

"We're fine," Mal says, standing and climbing off the mule. Zoe stands too but stays near the goods, a hand ready at the gun on her hip. "And you?"

"Yeah, we are too. Aren't we, Matty?" One of his lackeys, a stout man with beady eyes, nods.

"We gonna spend this fine morning on small talk or we gonna get to business at some point?" Mal smiles at them, a humourless smile.

"Course we'll get to the job. Don't see why a few words beforehand should be a problem though." Heimedall narrows his eyes slightly.

Zoe takes his hostility as a sign to step in. "We don't mean to offend. There's somewhere we have to get to after this is all."

"Right then," Heimedall replies. "That's all you hadta say. We can deal."

"Great," Mal says. He brushes down the front of his pants with the palms of his hands.

"Yeah."

"Let's deal then. As you can see, we've got your goods all here. Now, before we play nice and hand it over we'd like to see the cashy money we're due."

"That's reasonable enough a request." Heimedall nods at his second lackey. "Tones. Show 'em." The man, bald and with stunning blue eyes, obeys and with huge hands retrieves a bag from inside his coat. He opens it to reveal the coins and then closes it and tosses the bag to Mal who catches it with ease.

"Shiny. I take it your men can deal with the crates?"

Heimedall nods. "Tones. Matty. You heard the guy." He watches his men as they begin to haul crate after crate off the back of the mule. The mule empty again, Zoe climbs back on and waits as Mal exchanges last words with Heimedall. Mal joins her a few minutes later and they head back to Serenity while their clients fix the crates to their own mule.

"Good job," Mal says. "Easy money."

"Indeed," Zoe agrees. "And River's prediction has been proved wrong."

"Mmm yeah. It's been a nice, smooth ride."

"It has."

They're silent for nearly a whole minute. Even the mule is oddly noiseless in its journey across the desert-like ground.

"Do you really think she was wrong?" Mal asks then.

"I do."

"Hmm."

"You don't, sir?"

He scratches at his nose and shrugs sheepishly. "I think we'd be best not to ignore her words. Might be something we missed or something not happened yet she's visioned about. Until we're off this rock and outta here I don't want us taking any chances in the case she gets proved right here."

"Makes sense, sir."

"Yeah. I hope so."

They make it back to Serenity without further discussion and without incident. Unscathed, Zoe parks the mule and Mal presses the button to let the ramp back up. Mal orders Wash via the comm system to get them moving and they hit atmo with no problems.

And then the ships appear and a blast of light hurtles towards them at rapid speed.

_tbc_


	3. Chapter 3

It doesn't knock them clean out of the sky but it does hit them and the effects are immediate. The entire ship shakes and the crew are thrown against walls or whatever else they are near to. Sirens blare and warnings in English and then Chinese circulate the ship as Mal's voice did earlier over the comm system. Frenzied, Mal races to join Wash back on the bridge, swaying slightly as the ship rocks unsteadily.

"Damage report?" he asks before he's made it the whole way up the steps to the bridge. He's jerked to the side and nearly falls: he grips the back of Wash's chair just in time to keep himself from falling.

Wash doesn't spare him a glance. He continues to control Serenity, his jaw clenched and teeth gritted together furiously. In his eyes is a determination that he only seems to get when in the pilot's seat. "There's damage," he replies.

"How much? How bad is it?"

"Oh there's a fair bit, I'd say! Won't but slow us down, though if this keeps up," he says pointing out the window at the ship in front of them, "we'll be toast. And I don't mean the light brown variety. More like the burnt, charcoal kind."

"How fast can you get us out of here?"

"That there was just a warning shot, sir. If we so much as drift an inch they could slam us. We're not getting out of this one so easy I'm afraid to say. Plus they have two ships here. See the smaller one shaped like a log?"

"Yeah."

"It's got some form of weaponry. And then there's the bigger, more dangerous one that gave us the damage. Sensors are picking up a third ship approaching."

"Can you get them up on the comm?"

"You really think you can talk us out of this one, Mal?"

Mal slides his gaze from the ship that attacked them to lock eyes with Wash. "No."

Wash raises an eyebrow but says nothing more. Rather, he sets up the comm and hands it over to Mal, giving a short nod to say it's ready.

"This is Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly transport, Serenity," Mal says into the speaker. "Might I ask why you're firing at us?" He gives Wash, whose face is contorted into an unamused smirk, a pointed look.

"This is Chemosh," comes the response. Mal quirks an eyebrow. "Surrender or you will perish."

"What? Why?" Wash puts in.

"I have no need or inclination to explain myself," the voice booms.

"Ah, great," Mal mutters, with the radio transmitter on mute.

"What now?"

Zoe appears by his side. "Sir?"

"Well this could be a might troublesome."

"What are we going to do? Please no more shadow puppets."

"No shadow puppets," Mal promises, "but only 'cause I don't think they'll work this time around. Unfortunate, that. I'm in the mood for some light entertainment."

"Do you surrender?" Chemosh booms, interrupting their banter.

"Do we?" Wash asks.

Mal looks to Zoe and shrugs. Her lips curl slightly and she nods back.

"Yeah. Yeah it looks like we do."

"Not much else we can do, I conjure," Zoe speaks up.

"You're sure we can't outrun 'em?"

"They've got far more advanced technology," Wash explains. "We would barely make it a stone's throw away before they could destroy us."

"Right. Well. I guess this is it then."

"Yeah. Looks like."

Mal reaches for the transmitter. "Yeah. Chimosk?"

"Chemosh," the voice replies haughtily.

"Cheemosk?"

"Chemosh, you insolent fool!"

"Okay then, Chemist. Sorry. Yeah. We, uh, we surrender."

There's fury in the voice. "Prepare to be boarded. You will be punished for your insult to my name."

"Right. We'll do that then," Mal agrees. "Sounds like fun."

There's another flash of light and Mal cringes, waiting for it to hit them and send another jolt through the ship. The impact doesn't come. Rather, the engine of the ship in front of them bursts into flames. Part of the wing is hit then and the ship turns from them to fire at a third ship. The third ship is different to the others and its weapons are undoubtedly the most powerful of them all.

Nearly simultaneously, the largest of the ships fire upon one another. The smaller zooms towards Serenity to avoid getting caught in the middle and narrowly misses the debris that is scattered when both ships are destroyed behind it.

Mal blinks. "Huh."

"I guess we don't need to surrender anymore," Wash says helpfully.

"Looks like," Zoe agrees. She smiles, relieved.

"How about that other ship? The small one."

"The enemy of my enemy..."

"Is my friend," Mal finishes. "Let's hope so."

"Want me to call them up?"

There's a sudden burst of static and Mal flicks his eyes up to meet Wash's. "Apparently there's no need for that." Into the transmitter, he says, "hello?"

"Hi. Who's this?" It's the voice of a man, gruff and firm.

"Who's _this?_" Mal returns easily. He exchanges a look with Zoe who merely shrugs at him.

"This is Jack O'Neill."

"Malcolm Reynolds. What are you doing out here? It's an awful out of the way place for a small vessel such as yours."

There's a short laugh that lacks any amusement and then Jack replies. "If you'd believe it, we've just been stranded. That ship just saved your ass was our trip back home. Without it we are essentially drifting out here."

Zoe's brow furrows and she steps forwards. "Zoe Alleyne here. You said 'we'?"

"Yeah. I'm here with my friends: Samantha Carter, Dr Daniel Jackson and Teal'c."

"Friends, hmm?"

"That's what I said."

"All right then," Mal says. He mutes the transmitter for a moment and turns to Zoe. "Figure we're best dealing face to face than pullin' a chase if things get outta hand. You good with that?"

She nods. "Fine by me."

He switches the radio back on. "You need a ride? Guess we owe you that much what with your ship being blown outta the sky."

"Yeah. That'd be excellent."

"You understand," Mal interrupted. "We're only looking out for our own here. Don't mean you no offense. But you step on any toes or try to cut us off in any ways not good for us, we'll be on you, no questions asked. We'll be seeing you shot down if you so much as carry a weapon onboard here."

There's a brief pause and the muffled sound of arguing about Mal's proposition. There are snatches of questions. Is it safe to go without weapons? Should they go ahead with it? Is it a better idea to wait for their own people rather than trust these strangers? Apparently they have reached a decision because Jack replies. "Gotcha," he agrees. "Now how are we gonna do this?"

"I'll put you onto my pilot, Wash here," Mal says. "He'll talk you through connecting up and we can get you guys onboard. That good with you?"

"That it is."

"Any sign of weapons and we open fire. Got us some well trained fighters onboard here so that's not something you'll likely want facing you."

"I would expect no less."

"Good." Mal mutters a few instructions to Wash and that done, heads down the hall to prepare for the arrival of their guests.

_tbc_


	4. Chapter 4

Twenty minutes later, Mal stands before three men and a blonde woman, all in identical khaki uniforms. They look tired and somewhat distressed but there is an air of determination about them. He can tell merely by looking at them that they are not the type to give up on something easily. Whatever this mission, they'll be tough ones to break – assuming they are on mission, of course. Their uniforms suggest they are. As requested, they carry no weapons.

"I'm Malcolm Reynolds. You all can just call me Mal. I'm captain of this boat, Serenity. Welcome aboard."

"Jack O'Neill," the gray haired man introduces himself and steps forwards. He extends his hand and smiles thinly. "And these are my friends." He waves a hand behind him.

"Sam Carter," the blonde adds. Her eyes sparkle under the dim lighting and for a moment Mal is hypnotised by them. A shaggy haired man with glasses perched on the end of his nose breaks him from that state.

"And I'm Daniel Jackson. Hi. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi," Mal says.

"Teal'c," says their final guest. Mal takes in the symbol etched on his forehead and remembers at once a saying Wash once told them. _Some people juggle geese._ He shrugs inwardly and brushes off the odd tattoo.

"Teal'c," Mal repeats. "We'll get you all settled in a bit. Ain't much room, sorry to say, but it's something. This way." He leads them in silence to the mess, pointing out on the way, various rooms and the three spare bunks in which they will have to sleep. His tour runs briefly through the cargo bay and infirmary also.

In the mess, they sit around the wooden table. They are soon joined by the rest of the crew, trickling in one by one or in pairs to meet the new recruits. Kaylee is cautiously cheerful when she arrives having the memories of Jubal Early's time on Serenity to dampen her absolute trust in new people.

"We appreciate you taking us in like this," Sam says when they are all seated or standing around. "I don't know what we would have done if you had left us there."

Mal nods curtly. "Explain again what you were doing out here? I'm still not certain what you're intentions are."

"Research," Daniel puts in. "We're explorers. We have been travelling around in search of answers about where we came from and what else there is in the universe."

"We should mention too that we were being followed," Jack says.

"Followed? By who? You're not on the wrong side of the law, are you?" asks Wash.

Shaking her head, Sam is the one to respond. "No. We're not. We crossed paths with some... folk. Let's just say they're not the most pleasant."

"Is it the Alliance?" Simon's face pales.

"No. What is that?"

"You don't know the Alliance?" Zoe asks. "Mal-"

"Let's give them a chance to explain. The Alliance," he tells Sam, "is essentially the government. The guys on top. Us here on this boat are Browncoats. Have you not heard of the Alliance before?"

"We're not from around this way and certainly haven't been long enough to pick up the local politics. You know how it is."

"No, I don't actually."

"Move to a new place where you don't know anyone or where anything is. You'd feel out of place, right? That's how it is for us. Have you heard of the goa'uld?"

"Goold?"

"Goa'uld."

"Uh, no? Zoe?"

"No, I haven't sir."

"What's that?" Kaylee chips in.

"They're, uh, Daniel? Care to explain?" Jack says.

"The goa'uld are parasitic _things_ that take control of their host's body and direct everything that they do. It's essentially body snatching in the most literal sense of the words."

"That's... you're..." Simon swallows.

"Sounds crazy, right?" Sam says. "I thought so too when I first found out. But it's true. All of it."

Jayne takes a swig of alcohol from his flask. He sets it down on the table in front of him with a loud thwacking noise. "Ya mean there are people walking about who are not really people?"

"That's basically it, yes."

"How is that even possible?" Zoe frowns.

"It sounds like something out of science fiction!"

"It does sound that way. But it's real. It is possible."

As they continue to argue about the plausibility of the goa'uld's existence, Mal's attention shifts to the way Inara's hair falls down her shoulders and across the red of her blouse. It's curlier than usual and gleams dark brown. He is certain if he reaches out and touches it, it will be silky beneath his fingertips. The urge is a strong one but he resists.

That is when another question hits him. "Moving on from that for a moment, how are you going to get yourselves back wherever it is you need to get back to? We can't afford to be traipsing around the 'verse looking for a place we ain't even sure where it is. You said before that ship was your way home?"

"Given some time I can figure out how exactly to get back," Sam tells him. "It shouldn't be too difficult. Just a few calculations to work on."

"Fair enough then. Anything you need, let me know."

"Will do."

"Great, then that's settled," Mal says. "Zoe'll show you back to your rooms."

_tbc_


	5. Chapter 5

Later that night they meet again in the mess for dinner. With four extra bodies to fit in, the table is packed and so Simon, Kaylee and Book sit in the recreational area across from the main table to eat. Sam, Jack and Teal'c take their usual seats. Daniel sits where Inara usually would. Inara retrieves a plate of food and retreats to her shuttle.

"You know," Jack says between mouthfuls, "this isn't half bad for... what is this again?" He waves a fork in the air in front of him.

"Protein," Jayne fills him in.

"This protein," Jack adds with a nod.

"Indeed," Teal'c agrees.

"That's good to hear 'cause as long as you're onboard with us that's about all we got to offer."

"We'll have to repay you for your generosity." Daniel licks the crumbs from his fingers and then hesitates when he notices Kaylee staring at him from across the room. "We really do appreciate this."

"So you all keep saying," Mal replies.

Zoe passes a cylinder of spices over to Sam. "Thanks."

"It's hard to say for sure but we might not be out of the woods quite yet if you know what I mean," Jack tells them all once they're nearly done eating. He wipes the back of his hand across his mouth and then takes a swig from his mug. The chipped edges of it don't appear to have any effect on him.

Mal scrunches up his nose, not used to being talked to so honestly by anyone outside of his crew. "How do you mean?"

"That wasn't the only ship out after us. Could be more on their way," Sam fills him in.

"You lead me and mine into trouble, I don't see we have much of a choice. We'll drop you all like that if we have to." He pauses. "It's not much to ask to just have a nice and safe trip now, is it?" The question is directed more at himself than anyone else but Jayne shakes his head anyway.

"We understand and completely agree. You should look out for your people just as we'll look out for our own."

Mal nods and takes a final bite to finish his dinner. He squeezes the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "Yeah."

"Indeed," Teal'c adds.

The next few minutes pass in silence as they finish their meals. "Okay," Mal says then, standing up and stretching. "Back to work. You guys need anything, let one of us know."

Daniel smiles politely. "We will. Thank you."

A half hour later Mal finds the four of them grouped around outside the engine room with a happily chatting Kaylee on their hands. In her hands there are tools and a few odd bits and pieces of machinery. "What's that for?"

She glances over at him and offers him a huge grin. "Hey, captain. How's things?"

"Fine. They're fine." He nods at the gear she's holding to remind her of his question.

"Oh! Uh, these are spare parts. They're for the puddle jumper – Jack and Sam's ship. Repairs, I mean. They need bits for repairs."

"Yes," Daniel confirms. "We hope you don't mind?"

"Long as we don't need it? We don't want to get stuck out floatin' 'cause we've given up some such thing."

Kaylee nods her head up and down. "Of course! We don't need this stuff. It's jus' been lying around here unused and it's easy replaced later on if we come to need it."

"Good. That's good then."

"Great!"

"Again, Kaylee, when we can get back home we can offer something in return. Mal."

"Easy now, Carter. Don't want to give them _too_ much, do we?"

"Sir-"

"I was joking, Sam. Easy girl."

She sends him a withering glare.

Mal watches her appreciatively, the corners of his mouth crinkling up. Hooking his thumb in behind the straps of his suspenders, he runs the pads of his fingertips over the material. "How are you going to get back, do you know?"

"They gonna fly back, ain't they?" Jayne says matter-of-factly from where he stands by Kaylee's hammock.

Their four guests exchange glances. Jack smirks.

"I mean," Mal interrupts, "the puddle leaper thingy. It's like one of our shuttles, right? Short distance. You'll need to find a long distance type way to get back? Or can your shuttle-ly type vessel make it all the way?"

"Sam?" Daniel asks.

"Uh... sure. That's what we'll do," Sam answers. She nods her head perhaps a little too enthusiastically. Her blonde hair gleams under the lighting. "I think we can make it the whole way but in case I'm wrong we'll find a bigger ship somewhere and hitch a ride."

"You don't sound so certain about that."

"No, that's it. That's what we'll do."

"Right then. We'll drop you off at a dock and you can find your way from there."

Sam nods and then goes into scientist-mode. She explains to Mal the intricacies of the puddle jumper's inner workings. Though his expression is not nearly as expressive as Jack's, it displays some amount of confusion and distress. His hair spikes up, untamed and emphasises the bewildered look he has going.

"You know," he says, "I'm good with you jus' figuring it between yourselves here. Talk with Kaylee. She'll understand more'n I have a goat in hell's chance of doing so myself."

"No problem. We'll do that," Sam agrees.

"Amazing, isn't she?" Jack says at the same time.

"Hey!" She prods him in the side.

"Hey now, Carter. You really want to be doing that, do you?"

"You can court marshal me when we get back home."

Jayne scratches behind his ear. "Huh?" Five heads spin around to look at him. "What?!"

Shaking his head in mild disbelief, Mal claps the palm of his hand to his side. "Anything else I might be needing to know about?"

Daniel shrugs and Jack and Sam exchange looks and shake their heads. Teal'c answers for them all. "There is not."

"Okay. We'll sort the rest of this out come morning. I'm a turn in now and I suggest you do the same. We gotta long day ahead of us."

"Indeed," Teal'c tilts his head to the side. "Goodnight, Malcolm Reynolds."

"'Night, all," he responds.

Jack nods at him and Sam smiles. Daniel mutters, "Goodnight" as does Kaylee. Jayne merely grunts.

Sighing, Mal heads towards his bunk. He rips his boots off at once and throws them to the ground. His suspenders and shirt follows and puddles by the boots. Satisfied, he makes his way to his bed, sits down on the end of it, pulls his legs up and slides beneath the covers. Sleep does not take him immediately but as his thoughts swirl around in his mind, he grows more tired and soon he is drifting amongst dreams.

_tbc_


	6. Chapter 6

"Mal! Mal, wake up!"

He turns over on his side and blinks sleepily at the steel wall in front of him.

"Mal!"

"Huh? What?" He stirs.

"Mal, come on!"

It occurs to him that he should probably answer and so he drags himself out of bed and across the room to press in the button on the intercom system. He's not fast enough to avoid another two callings of his name but prevents a third. "This better be good."

"It's River. There's something... I don't know. She's acting all... You know what? Come down here. See for yourself. We're all in the cargo bay."

Mal's eyes widen and he straightens up, suddenly on alert. "Wash? What's going on?"

There's no response. He assumes that Wash has already hung up on him, or that whatever the emergency he was shouting about has grown worse. Dreading the answer, Mal hurries back to his bed and retrieves the trousers from the end of it. He pulls those on and grabs a white button-up shirt and before he's buttoned that up, he's moving up the ladder to the hall and on his way to the cargo bay.

What he finds there is not a thing like he expects and he does a double take. Words refuse to form in his mind. He can merely ogle the strange scene before him and hope that no flies take the opportunity to seek out a new home in his open mouth.

"I told you," Wash states, walking over to him with a wide grin.

"Uh huh," Mal grunts. "What? How?"

"Why is she up there?" Wash asks. "I have nooooo idea. She's really quite graceful, isn't she?"

Swallowing and then blinking a few times and shaking his head, Mal turns his back on River. "As entertaining as River's dancing is, please get her to climb down. I'm sure our visitors won't be pleased with our little psychic gal causing ruckus on top of their shuttle."

"Yes sir!" Wash continues to smirk as he approaches the girl. Over his shoulder he calls to Daniel, Teal'c and Jack, who watch with concern, "Sorry about River. She's not quite all there in the head if you know what I mean. You do know, right?"

Daniel raises an eyebrow. Teal'c tilts his head to the side.

"Well. I'll just get her down now in any case." He nods his head once as if to talk himself into what he's about to do or convince himself that he is in fact about to do what he's about to do. "River, honey. Hey! Do you want an apple?"

From on top of the puddle jumper, River slows her dancing and twirls lazily around in circles. She shoots Wash a mischievous grin on one turn but does not stop to respond, nor does she say anything to him.

"River!"

Nothing.

"Ah great," he can hear Jack mutter behind him.

"It's fine," Wash calls. "I'll get her down." He waves his arms around in an attempt to get River's attention. "Hey, I know! Do you want to play with my dinosaurs? River? Hello?"

"Yeah," Jack mutters. "That'll work. Just like trying to make an elephant float will work."

Mal leaves before Wash can make much more of a fool of himself and resolutely does not cringe when there's a terrified shriek followed by a crash and a moan of pain – that he can tell easily comes from Wash.

He's so caught up in not cringing that he doesn't realise he's being followed at first. "Hey." Sam greets him.

"Whoa! What?" He jumps back a bit, startled.

"I said 'hey'."

"Oh. Uh, hi."

"How are you doing? Slept well?"

Mal scrunches up his nose.

"I'll take that as a no?" Sam tries.

"I slept fine thanks," he says quickly. "And I'm doing fine, thank you for asking."

"Good."

"Great," he replies. He continues walking. Sam follows. "So how are you?"

"Considering all this," she says, waving her hands about to gesture at the ship, "I think I'm doing pretty well. This is a whole new experience for me here. I mean, we've been plenty of places and we've met a lot of... people. You know how it is. Travelling. But this."

"Yeah?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. It's different. Serenity," she says.

"What about her?"

"Actually, that's just it."

Mal looks at her in confusion. "What's just it?"

"Her. You called Serenity a her. She's like... another being. I wouldn't go as far to say human, but she's got certain qualities that make her special."

"She's our home."

"Yeah. She is. I hope you don't mind me saying but I think she's a lot more than that to you as well."

For the second time in less than ten minutes, he is stunned. Not even twenty four hours have passed and yet this woman has seen what Serenity means to him. Even Zoe, his best mate, couldn't see that when he first showed her around. Sam – Samantha – has barely had anything to do with him and she has it figured out.

"You okay?"

He's brought back to the present. "Yeah. I'm shiny."

"You look lost."

"No, I'm good."

"Hmm." Sam presses a finger to her lips and studies him. Her eyes are the most startling blue things that he has ever seen. "If you say so."

"I do say so," he replies and then he frowns. There's a familiar feeling behind this back and forth conversation. It's like there's more to what they are saying than their words put across and it feels so much like the relationship he has with someone else.

"Inara," Sam says.

"Huh?"

"Inara," she says again. She smiles and he suspects that deep down it is more of a smirk than a real smile. He's found some other way to amuse her without meaning to. "Behind you."

"Oh." He turns to find himself face to face with Inara. Wearing a red dress decorated by lines of gold, she is as elegant as ever. There's a fruity scent about her. Cherries, he thinks. "All neat and tidy there," he comments, not trying to compliment her nor offend her.

"I... thank you, I suppose."

"Sure."

"That dress is beautiful!" Sam exclaims, moving closer to her. "I don't get much of a chance to dress up myself, but when I have... Well. I've not worn a dress as gorgeous as that one!"

Smiling and flushing slightly red, Inara locks eyes with her. "Thank you."

"No problem. How are you today, Inara?"

"I'm very well thank you. And you?"

"I'm great. We'll be on our way home soon which will be excellent. I have a lot of work that I have to finish. I'm rather looking forward to getting back to it."

"Well good luck on your return trip then. I'm sure our Mal here will do whatever he can to make it easier for you all."

"Thanks," Sam replies.

Mal narrows his eyes at Inara. Despite that, he says, "yeah, I will" and he finds he actually means it.

_tbc_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: _I hope you're all enjoying this so far! Thanks to all who have left a review and/or favourited this story! :)  
_**

The mess table is empty when Mal, Sam and Inara arrive but stacks of plates confirm that at least some of the others have eaten breakfast already. Zoe enters as Mal is gathering plates for their own breakfast. "Morning, sir."

"Morning, Zoe. You eaten?"

"Hours ago."

He nods. That sounds about right. "Wash has too?"

"Yeah, and River, Jack and Teal'c. Don't know about Kaylee and Simon."

"You mean to say those two finally pulled things together?"

Zoe smirks. "If only."

"Ha. Of course."

"Hi," Sam says when they fall silent.

Zoe glances at her. "Morning."

"Hello," Inara adds.

Mal rolls his eyes and serves out protein for them. Setting the container away again, he hands a plate to Sam and one to Zoe and then takes his own and sits at the table. He's on his second mouthful by the time they join him.

"Hungry, hmm?" Inara teases.

He lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug. "S'pose so. You're not?"

"Not as hungry as you by the looks of it." She takes a bite.

Sam snorts in amusement but says nothing and leans back in her chair, her mouth full of protein. Five minutes pass in which the only sound is three sets of teeth chewing protein and the clank of metal cutlery on china plates.

"I wonder how River's doing," Sam murmurs, setting down her fork.

Mal finishes his mouthful. "Why do you ask?"

"I saw her before with the puddle jumper."

"Oh."

Sam runs her tongue across her lips. "Is she always like that?"

"Dancing on top of people's shuttles? No," Mal says, shaking his head.

Inara smiles grimly. "She's been through a lot. Sometimes she does things that aren't quite what you'd call normal."

"Is she sick?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Mal nods.

"Hmm. I could ask Janet to take a look at her."

"Janet?" Inara asks.

"She's a close friend of mine who happens to be a brilliant doctor too," Sam explains. "She's treated patients with conditions most doctors haven't even heard about let alone treat themselves and she's kind hearted. She'll help River or do her best trying."

"Talk to the doc about it. Doubt he'll take a liking to anyone not him treating his dear sister but you never know."

"I'll do that then."

"Mind you don't go overboard though and start somethin'. Ain't got no space for any of that sort of business on my ship. Got plenty all with you four around now."

Sam frowns slightly but nods. "Of course. Maybe I shouldn't offer help to your sick crew mate. If it's going to be such a big problem."

"Ignore Mal," Inara says quickly, placing a hand gently over Sam's arm. "He doesn't mean what he's saying."

"I do actually."

Inara sighs. "We don't want any trouble is all."

"Nor do we."

"Mal-" Inara gives him a pointed look.

"What? Can I not look after me and mine without being scolded for it?"

"That's not what I-"

"I'd best go see Wash. See how far off we are," he interrupts. He pushes his plate away from him so it's nearly in the centre of the table and then he stands. Before he moves off, he looks from Inara to Sam and back again, his eyes filled with cool determination. He's moving before they can say anything more to him and as he passes through the door he can hear them start talking quietly between themselves.

Wash is staring out the glass panel when Mal gets to the bridge. The planet's surface is clearly visible and tiny buildings jut out over the dusty expanse.

"We set down in thirty minutes," Wash says quietly.

Mal nods and takes a seat beside him.

Twenty seven minutes later they've set down on the docks at Megaera. Mal stands in the cargo bay by the door controls and presses the button to let the ramp down. He watches it drop downwards and come to a rest in the dirt. Beyond it the usual frenzied activities go on. People scurry like ants up and down aisles of stalls and food stands and ships. The noise level is astonishingly loud and the scent of roasting meat and dust and engine grease clings to the air.

Pushing past Mal with the sweep of a muscular arm, Teal'c moves wordlessly into the crowd.

"Yeah, you just... go," Mal mutters, stepping back. He frowns when Jack, Jayne, Kaylee, River and Simon follow without so much as a glance in his direction. "Don't bother tellin' me where you're all off to. I'm just the captain," he adds. He receives no answer from them. He turns as Book walks over. "You going out too, preacher?"

"No. Not this time," Book replies. "As tempting as that sounds I have some reading to catch up on."

"Right then."

"I thought I'd come by and have a little peek before I retreat to my room," Book adds, offering a small smile.

"Then by all means," Mal says, waving a hand out towards the crowd. "Peek as you will."

"I will," Book says. His eyes seem to glint under the sunshine pouring down upon them. Moments later his feet pad quietly across the cargo bay and he disappears into Serenity's belly.

Left to his thoughts, Mal continues to stare out into the dusty docks and breathe in the scent of a new planet.

Of course he doesn't have much time to himself before he's interrupted. This time it's Sam and Zoe. Talking quietly amongst themselves, they fall silent as they approach him. He frowns. "Zoe," he greets. "Sam."

"Sir."

"Mal."

"Going off ship?"

Sam shakes her head. "Nope."

"We've been talking," Zoe adds. "Sam's been explaining the goa'uld."

"Oh. Well that's... nice."

"Sir? Something wrong?"

Mal blinks. "Huh? No! No, nothing's wrong. Why?"

"You seem distracted."

"I'm fine." He shakes his head.

"Hmm," Sam says. "Maybe I will go off ship for a little while. I'd appreciate if you could come with me and show me around." While Mal is pondering her request, she whispers to Zoe. "The man looks like he needs a break and I could do with some fresh air as well."

Zoe nods and presses Mal on. "Sir, I think you should go."

"Ain't no one on this boat can tell me what I should and shouldn't do," he throws back.

Rolling her eyes, Zoe tries again. "Mal. You're not focused. You're not keeping on top of things as well as usual and you could do with a break. You're going."

"What? I have no choice, are you saying?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I'll take the ship and you go out. Relax while you have the chance."

Frowning, Mal drags a hand through his hair. The longish brown strands flow smoothly through his fingers and fall back into place immediately after he has released them. He chews on his lower lip thoughtfully and then tilts his head slightly. "Fine. We can sort out your travel arrangements while we're out."

"Fine by me," Sam agrees.

"Great."

"Good," she says.

Zoe smiles thinly. "Play nice, little ones. I don't want to have to come and find you and transport you back to the ship in plastic bags if either of you goes too far."

"Oh I don't imagine we will. Right, Sam?" Mal says.

"Of course." She puts her hands on her hips and considers him. "Though I may have to change my answer if you don't get moving soon," she teases.

Sighing loudly, Mal looks at Zoe. "Look after my girl, okay?"

"Serenity will be fine, sir. Go. Have some fun."

He shakes his head. "I don't expect there'll be any fun to be had. We'll be back soon."

"But not too soon," Zoe warns him.

Mal doesn't answer, choosing instead to head down the ramp with Sam a few steps behind him.

_tbc_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews and all those who have added this story to their favourites and/or alert list! Enjoy this next bit! :)**

They are immediately swallowed by the planet's dusty atmosphere and the smell of cooking meat. He takes in a deep breath and then slowly releases it. Glancing around for any signs of trouble, he looks at Sam when he's satisfied they're safe. "Where do you want to go?" he asks.

"Nice of you to ask," Sam says, flashing him a thousand watt smile. She adjusts the cap she's wearing and strands of blonde poke through under the rim."How about we go look for the others? I saw them leave earlier."

"Sure, why not?" He frowns and taps his chin with the length of his index finger. "I think they went that way," he says, pointing to their left where the stalls grow dense.

Sam shakes her head. "I'm pretty sure it was to the right. Colonel O'Neill told me that-"

"Okay, the left it is." Mal aims a cocky grin in her direction and then ambles off in his chosen direction. Dust is picked up and set drifting in the air by his boots.

"Hey, now! That's not fair!"

Chuckling, Mal doesn't slow down. He only pauses for a moment when Sam picks up her pace to join him. "Whoever said that this would be fair?"

She sends him a withering glare. "We'll have to look out for some of those parts for the puddle jumper while we're out." She goes on to explain which parts those are and what they're for, while Mal continues walking and ignores the words tumbling from her mouth at a truly terrifying speed.

"You hungry?" Mal asks suddenly, interrupting her, mid-sentence.

Sam frowns but says, "yes. Why?"

He nods towards one of the stalls. Manned by an old lady with piercing blue eyes, on nearly every surface there is script in both English and Chinese to pronounce the stall's purpose: fried chicken.

"That looks really good," Sam murmurs. The corners of her mouth quiver upward slightly. "Smells even better."

"You wanna try it?"

"Sure!"

Mal moves closer to the stall and leans over. "Two serves," he says.

The woman scoops up the food into paper bags and holds it out in front of her. Her beady eyes lock with Mal's. "Pay up," she says, gesturing at the board by her side with pricing information.

Mal hands her the money and she releases her grip on the food parcels. "Uh, thank you?"

She nods quickly and then looks away as another potential customer shuffles over.

"Here you go." Mal offers one of the paper bags to Sam and waits for her to take it. He rips open his own and pulls a chicken's leg out, immediately taking a bite from it and moaning softly at the taste. "S'good."

Sam raises an eyebrow but goes about opening her own bag. "No cutlery, I guess," she mutters, before digging in. She chews, swallows and then stares at Mal, wide-eyed. "Wow."

"It's great, isn't it?"

"It's... better than great! This is the best thing I've ever tasted!"

He nods and grins. "Expensive stuff but totally worth it."

"That's a fact," she agrees. "Thank you."

"No problem," he replies. "Now. While we're doing this talking thing might you want to fill me in on how come you got your weaponry back? I don't recall giving the okay for you to have them."

Sam swallows, hard. She blinks a few times and though he stares at her with one of the most fierce glares he can conjure given he's eating some of the most delicious food he's had in awhile, she doesn't waver under his gaze. "Zoe," she says.

"Zoe gave it to you?"

"To all of us actually," she admits. She grips the paper bag of chicken tighter and it crinkles loudly. Around them, people move like ants navigating an ant hill.

"Us?"

"Jack, Daniel and Teal'c."

Mal sighs loudly. "Great."

"Why? Is there something wrong? Is there some reason why we shouldn't have our weapons?"

"Not any more I suppose – but that's beside the point! Zoe! She went behind my back. And you! Maybe there is still reason why you shouldn't have it back."

She narrows her eyes at him.

"Is there?"

"No! Of course not! We're just like you and your crew, going about our way. We don't want to cause trouble but we need our weapons to protect ourselves, particularly with going off world."

"Ain't nobody going to endanger you out here! Course if you've been less than truthful about why you're runnin' and you got the Alliance on your tail, ain't a thing can stop those officers nearabouts," he says, nodding towards two very fine looking men in Alliance gear, "from snatching you and taking you to the Feds."

"We didn't even know what the Alliance is until Simon filled us in last night!"

"That don't mean nothing."

"Sure it does! How can we have been running from them when we didn't even know of their existence?"

"And anyway," Mal says, ignoring her. "Even if you're truthful about this whole thing, weapons here when there are Feds... Best keep them covered up if'n you want to stay outta lockup."

Sam glances down at her hip where she'd slid one of her smaller guns earlier. The silver metal glints in the sunlight. "It's hidden."

"Not enough. I saw it, didn't I?" he points out.

She pulls her shirt further down so it covers more completely the weapon. "Better?"

"Much." He casts his gaze towards the Alliance officers. "Conjure they didn't see it. You'd best hope they didn't. How this goes down is gonna affect how angry Zoe will be finding out I am."

She frowns.

"Hey! Is that Kaylee?" she asks suddenly. Light brown hair bobs up and down amongst the crowd.

Mal strains his eyes to see the person's face. "Ah," he grunts. "Could be."

"Let's go say hi," she suggests. She's twisting through the crowd before he can confirm or deny her request.

His boots are heavy on the ground as he follows her. He's about to call out to her to slow down when she comes to a stop and her hand reaches for the gun at her hip. Eyes widening, he closes his half-open mouth and chases after her instead. A few startled old women skitter back as he moves past them. One of them curses at him and he'd have smirked if there wasn't the whole situation going on with Sam and the gun.

"What the guay do you think you're doing?!" he spits out when he nears her side.

Thin-lipped, she nods her head towards the spot Kaylee had been moments earlier. It's empty. She moves her hand off of the gun.

"Huh?"

"They took her," Sam says.

"They took who?"

"Kaylee. They took Kaylee."

Mal swallows hard and marches forwards to search for Serenity's mechanic. He peeks into the stalls down from where he saw her and disgruntled employees manning the tables glare at him. Kaylee does not.

"She's gone," Sam calls, stepping up to him. "It's no use. There were men. I saw them take her."

"Where?" He narrows his eyes. "Do you know them? Are they your people who took my mechanic?"

"No! Of course not!"

Mal shakes his head. "Where?" he asks again.

Pointing, Sam looks at him. "That way."

Mal moves past the stalls and into an alleyway leading away from the crowd and if she wasn't so alert she would have lost sight of him in moments. As it is, she is able to twist through the many bodies blocking the path and catch up before he disappears from sight. She reaches again for her gun, this time pulling it out and taking it off safety.

Not paying her any attention in the slightest, Mal continues to glide through the alleyway and around the corner up ahead. He pauses at the next bend and Sam nearly runs into him. She holds her position just in time and rather than asking what's going on, she prods him in the back and offers him a questioning look. He gestures out of the alley with a nod of his head.

Peering around, Sam is finally able to see for herself. Outside of the alleyway the street breaks out and opens onto a rough neighbourhood. No stalls are in sight, only rundown buildings with peeling paint and roofs with shingles. There are no gardens. Dirt and sand and litter is all there is in way of scenery.

Halfway up the road though is a gathering of people. Wearing dark flowing clothes, they are muscular and tall and standing guard over a whimpering Kaylee, stoic Teal'c and scowling Jack. They make no moves to hurt their prisoners but every so often one of them mutters something in a different language and chuckles.

"Goa'uld," Sam murmurs and Mal is reminded that she is by his side. He turns to look at her. "They must have followed us here."

"Why would they want to? What's so damn important to them that they have to come crawlin' to this old rock to find you?"

Sam watches him for a moment and then lets out a reluctant sigh. "We kind of blew up their planet awhile ago. You know how it is. Pesky alien force tries to invade galaxy. Good doers come to the rescue and inadvertently destroy a world. We were the good doers."

"I neglect to see where the good is in that."

"Sometimes I feel the same way."

Mal nods. He raises an eyebrow when one of the men's eyes flash gold.

"Yeah, that's definitely a goa'uld," Sam confirms.

"Head back to the ship," Mal tells her. "Get Zoe and Jayne and anyone else in the mood for a little bloodshed. Could be this gets messy real quick."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"We need back up. There's no way we can take them all on now. Two versus eleven? I don't like those odds."

"Nor do I. And that's exactly why I'm not going. You'll do something stupid if I leave you here and we can't afford to lose you too." Sam places a hand on his shoulder. "You go get the others and I'll keep watch."

He frowns.

"Don't worry, Mal. Those are my people over there too. I want them back as much as you want Kaylee safe again. You can trust me."

"That's not was I was worried about."

She stares at him but he doesn't elaborate. Rather, he turns and actually obeys her request, moving expertly back the way they came to return to Serenity.

_tbc_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Enjoy!**

A half hour later Mal returns with Zoe, Daniel and Book. Inara and Wash are keeping an eye on the ship and the others nowhere to be found, presumably still out wandering the docks, they have no choice but to go in, just the four of them and Sam. Prepped with weapons – guns held discreetly in hand and more of them strapped to hips along with daggers slid into sheaths and into boots – they creep down the alleyway.

Mal holds up a finger to silence them though the motion is not needed. They are deathly quiet already but for the gravelly press of their boots into the ground. Daniel, keeping close to the wall, peers around where Mal gestures for him to look and then pulls back. He slumps down.

The goa'uld found Sam. Of course the alternate option is that she allowed herself to be caught. But that would be plain stupid and Sam wasn't stupid from what Mal had learned of her in the short time he'd known her.

"Somethin' stupid," Mal hisses. "I'll show her good an' all somethin' stupid! When we get outta here-"

"Shhh!" Daniel presses a finger to his lip even as Zoe touches Mal's arm to ground him again.

"There are eleven of them and eight of us. Don't see our other half," he adds, nodding at their surrounded friends, "doin' us much good in this situation but might be we can use them, get them to work their way out. What we'll do is this." Mal explains his plan to them and when they nod their agreement, he smiles grimly. "It's settled then. Let's get to it."

Zoe and Book slink back into the alleyway to keep cover while they get into position. A strand of Books' hair comes loose from how he's tied it up and blows gently in the wind behind him.

"Conjure this could get messy," Mal whispers, not taking his eyes from their captured friends.

Daniel shifts beside him. "I imagine so."

"You right with this sort of thing?"

Chuckling softly, Daniel replies. "I've been in this situation more times than you'd know."

"That should soothe me somewhat given the situation but I've gotta say, Daniel, that's an interesting bit of information right there."

"What can I say?" he says. "We're explorers."

"And explorers always come into the kind of trouble that requires a gun hand or two."

"I couldn't have put it better myself."

Mal raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I'm serious."

"Huh." Mal runs a finger over his bottom lip. "What explorer types are you lot anyway?"

"Ohhh!" he says. "We're the universe travelling type. Nothing out of the ordinary. I don't want to disappoint you. That's really all there is to it."

"Hmm. Well. You ready?"

"I'm ready," Daniel confirms. "Let's do this."

Mal nods and then peers around the corner again. Across the road on the other side of the goa'uld captors and their friends, Zoe and Book huddle in another alleyway. Mal locks eyes with Zoe and nods. It's time. Zoe nods her understanding and then says something to Book.

They leave the shadows behind them and guns at the ready, they advance on the goa'uld. Mal looks at Daniel and then with a tilt of his head gestures they should do the same. The next two minutes and forty three seconds is filled with gunshots, yelling, yelps of pain and fighting. It passes in a blur and at the end of it, Zoe has sustained an injury to her leg and Mal has a scrape on his arm from where a bullet grazed him. Five goa'uld are dead, two more are injured and the remaining four are pulling Jack and Kaylee down the street with Zoe and Mal in pursuit. Daniel stays behind with Teal'c to face the two injured – but still standing – goa'uld.

"It looks like they have a ship waiting!" Zoe calls out.

Mal looks around ahead of them and ahead of the goa'uld to find there is indeed a ship there. It's not like most ships he's seen floatin' about in the sky or on the docks before. It had an odd shape to it and a strange triangular front where the glass window opens a view for the pilot. "Weird looking thing."

"I think it's just the shuttle."

He doesn't respond, instead focusing the remainder of his energy on increasing his speed and getting to the ship or shuttle or whatever it is before the goa'uld can climb aboard with their friends onboard. When the goa'uld come to an abrupt stop underneath the ship, he runs harder. As he leaps forwards at the closest goa'uld, there's a blur of rings that come down around them and a flash of light, and suddenly he finds himself in a room.

Sloped walls and flooring that could be marble or some alien substance used to create the same marble effect is what he first notices. There's a rich gold colour winding throughout the structure, combined with browns and black. A circular shape marks the floor beneath him and two weapons are aimed at his head.

"Hi," he says, offering a lazy smirk. "Bet you didn't mean to bring any more guests onboard."

One goa'uld moves towards him. At the sound of footsteps, Mal swings around to see two big men with swirly shapes carved into their foreheads approaching. "Well now, that's not fair. Six on three? That means we gotta get two of you each."

"Jaffa, kree!"

Mal ignores him. "Where's Zoe? I don't see her here an' she was right behind me."

He gets no response. "Hey! I'm talking to you, guy with the swirly thing on his head. Yeah, you!"

"Be silent!"

Frowning, he offers a shrug. "Fine. I can do quiet."

"Take them to the cells."

Mal is suddenly seized by two men with the forehead finger paintings that he neglected to notice before. Difficult to ignore now, he pulls away from them and jerks about when they grapple him back. "Hey now! Careful where you put those hands!"

They really are huge hands. Anyone would be a fool to challenge someone with such big hands and such apparent rage. Mal likes to consider himself as one of the lucky fools. "Those hands are huge!" he emphasises. "Musta been hell of a time for your mum to give birth to you."

Narrowed eyes and a roar are Mal's only warning before the man releases his hold on Jack's arm to swipe at him. "Go!" he tells Jack, who is moving even as he calls it out. Mal ducks to avoid the man's fist.

Jack breaks free of his second captor and Kaylee looks on in terror. There's little Mal can do to help either of them as he so desires. While he isn't so concerned about Jack – Jack has had training apparently – Kaylee... Kaylee is innocent. She is sweet and kind and rather naive and she shouldn't have to deal with being put into this kind of situation. She shouldn't be here. Nor should he or Jack for that matter, but that's beside the point.

Trying to pull out from the grasp his captor has him in is enough to deal with let alone attempting to rescue the others. He needs to break free and he needs to do it soon so that Kaylee doesn't have to take more of this than she absolutely has to. Taking in a deep breath, he makes a sharp leap forwards. With the guard distracted by Jack's escape, Mal is able to knock him over. He falls on top of the man and at once sets about getting to his feet and throwing kicks at the grasping fingers that don't quite reach him.

Standing up, he runs. The halls are wide but they don't go far. It must be the shuttle that they were beamed up into. The larger ship most definitely would have more space in it than where they are now.

_tbc_


	10. Chapter 10

Just as suddenly as he escaped, Mal is caught again, a guard nabbing him as he turns a corner and neglects to slow down for fear of the goa'ulds behind him. He trips and nearly tumbles into the wall, stopped only by the guard's grip on him. Running into the wall would have been preferable though. The grip on his arm is tight and he can feel it burn his skin. "Hey! Ow!"

The guard says nothing but pulls him up to stand. Beady eyes focus on him and then without warning, the guard is dragging him back the way he came with a rather entertained look on his face. Mal struggles against him and aims a fist at his stomach. It collides with something squishy and wet and Mal pulls his hand back in disgust as a sharp squeal coming from the guard's stomach attempts to break his ear drums. The guard groans but his hold does not waver or loosen.

"What are you people anyway?" Mal asks as they continue on. "You ain't quite human, that's for sure! That... What was that?"

"That was a goa'uld symbiote," Jack calls across the room. Alert, unlike he was earlier, Jack sends a glare at the guard. "And those guys with the swirly tattoos on their foreheads are Jaffa. They're hosts to the goa'uld."

"Huh?"

"Silence!" calls the goa'uld standing guard over Jack. "You will not speak."

"This one has one of the slugs in his head, controlling him," Jack says anyway, earning himself a sharp kick to his side. He grunts and his face contorts in pain.

Mal frowns. "Goa'ulds and Jaffa. And I thought River wasn't quite right. Are you-"

"I said, silence!" Jack's goa'uld glares at Mal through his host and then nods to the Jaffa holding Mal's wrist.

Cringing even before the blow comes, Mal joins in the ranks of the squealing and injured, lying on the floor. "You think," he says, "you can kick me while I'm down and get away with it? You think you can do this to me and get away with it? You're not gonna. Not for a minute." The Jaffa kicks him again. "Well, maybe for this minute. But later." He sucks in a ragged breath.

"You okay?" Jack asks and there's a hiss of agony as he's hit again also.

"Mm. Best we leave the talking - ow! - for later though."

"I think you might be right about that one."

"Yes. Talking - ah! - has painful consequences."

"Though - ouch! - we seem - ow! - unable to stop," Jack replies. By this point his eyes are clamped shut and he's rolling about on the floor, holding his side. The holster at his hip, Mal notices, is empty though there's the glimmer of silver near Jack's boots. A dagger perhaps. That could come in use later. That is, assuming that there is a later to worry about and that it doesn't all end here and now as is looking more and more likely by the moment.

Certainly they have given the goa'uld and the Jaffa enough reason to kill them or at least torture them some more. It's been barely any time at all and Mal has already evaded capture once. If only he'd managed to stay that way. Wouldn't seem a likely thing he could pull off but had he been freed he could've given a one-man rescue mission a shot. He always has been curious about whether or not he'd be able to pull it off.

"Hey, Jack," he calls.

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel about grenades?" He doesn't have any grenades on him of course – Jayne has the grenades – but a little bit of mischief can only be fun, right? Why not make the lives of these alien creatures, whatever the hell they are, hell?

A Jaffa is on him at once, searching him for the second time to ensure a grenade was not missed in the first search.

Mal smirks. "A real shame I don't got any. But I know someone who has."

Scowling, the goa'uld next to Jack scours him for the weaponry. Picking up nothing and missing Jack's dagger completely, the goa'uld stands up straight.

"Ya know," Jack says. "It would be great to know who we're talking to here. Take me to your leader?"

An unamused eyebrow is raised by one Jaffa. Another stares at him blankly and the goa'uld pay him no attention.

"What are we waiting here for? Are we waiting for someone?" Mal adds.

"At least tell us who your oh mighty leader is! C'mon! What can it hurt?"

"Could it hurt?" Mal says with a smirk.

"I think it could hurt. Maybe," Jack nods.

A goa'uld scowls at them but says nothing. He clasps his hands together and then, slowly and without apparent reason, a smug grin wipes across his face.

"What?" Mal says. "What's going on?"

"Are you in pain? It looks like you're in pain."

"My master will destroy you both. There is nothing you can say or do to stop him. He is all powerful where you never will be. Insolent human fools!" The goa'uld smirks some more. "Now be silent!"

"And here I was thinking we'd already established we don't do quiet." Mal rolls his eyes slightly. "Ow! Hey!"

"I was thinking we'd already established your insolence will result in your suffering," the goa'uld returns.

"Oooh, a feisty one!"

"Silent or you will see more pain than you can ever deal with."

"I've seen a lot o' pain in my time and not much else can compare after that. You know how it is, I suppose, guy like you. Travelling the universe, things are bound ta happen. You meet people, get to thinking you can trust them maybehaps and then they turn around and stab you. Or else they just poke you in the chest and walk away. Either one."

The goa'uld stares blankly at him.

"Yeah, it's a thing. Happens all the time really."

"It does," Jack agrees. "Listen to him. He's a smart one."

"SILENCE!"

Both Mal and Jack chuckle at the goa'uld's very abrupt yelp. They finally fall silent and Mal leans forwards a little to peer around the corner. The hall remains empty. No one but the Jaffa and goa'uld that initially trapped them are anywhere to be seen. Maybe, he decides, they're off on one of those celebration type things that Daniel mentioned to him the other night when he was on his way to bed. It was entirely possible. Right? He likes to think so.

Then again this is an actual ship. Do they even do those celebrations on ships? Or is it more of a religious type event that Daniel had been referring to, that they do back planetside, wherever planetside is for them? Mal is as far from curious about that as could be. The planet side of things isn't all that interesting. With Serenity, they're always dropping by new places and taking in new sights. Nothing new there.

As for the religion, he's never been much of a bible thumper type. That's more Book's area of expertise and well, Book ain't here. Book is back with the others, on the planet they were all just at and should still be at.

"I'm ready for them," a new voice booms and Mal is torn from his thoughts in an instant. He spins around to look at the source of the sound and his initial reaction is to gape, open mouthed at the goa'uld standing there.

It's undeniably Chemosh, the goa'uld he talked to earlier on the comm system. Chemosh. How is it possible? Did he not die in the explosion along with Jack and Sam's mothership type boat? Surely he had. But he's standing here now which suggests quite fiercely that he is indeed alive.

"But you're dead!" Mal says.

"Clearly he isn't." Jack covers a yawn.

"You seen this before or somethin'? Guy came back to life and you're just... just... sitting there! What's going on?"

"This has happened before," Jack confirms.

"And what is _this_?"

"It's...something. I don't know how to explain exactly – Carter is much better with the words into sentence putting – but," he says and he waves his arms around in front of him, "this. Right in front me. All of it. It's happened. There's a sarcophagus thing and it brings people back to life and such. I've seen it."

"Huh."

"Yeah. Not quite so crazy once you understand the why of it, of course."

"Of course."

"I don't suppose you'd have seen many dead come back to life," Jack adds.

Mal tilts his head to the side and then straightens up and shrugs. "You'd be surprised. Had a near death experience – as in, I was dead for a bit, not too long though – my own self. And a war buddy of mine-"

"War buddy?"

"Not to interrupt you two, but you both have more pressing details to concern yourselves with," Chemosh offers. There is malice in his eyes when Mal glances up at him.

"If you could give us a moment to finish our conversation," Jack replies easily.

"I have given you enough time already."

"Fair enough," Mal says.

"How about a phone call? Do we at least get a phone call? I've got people who'd be pretty interested in my whereabouts just now."

"You are Colonel O'Neill," Chemosh states firmly, looking at Jack.

Jack shrugs. "I could be."

"Who is your friend?"

"Mal?" Jack says. "He's a great guy. Right there if you want to talk to him yourself. I think he knows him better than I know him."

Gesturing at them with a wave of his hand, Chemosh smiles. He runs his tongue across his lips and slowly looks around the room before settling his gaze back upon them. "Take them," he says.

"Take us?" Jack responds.

"Where?"

Chemosh says nothing and nor do the Jaffa and goa'uld surrounding him. Merely watching as the Jaffa lead them away, Chemosh seems unaffected by their questioning and their struggles against their captors. It's a blank expression that Mal last sees on Chemosh's face as they round a corner and disappear down the halls, with the occasional push or nudge or grunt.

A cell comes into view after several minutes of boots scuffling on the ground and Mal enters it, no question. He offers a cocky grin at Jaffa standing over him and lazily puts his hands behind his head and draws in a deep breath. Releasing it, he walks over to the door of the cage, the metal poles tall and upright.

Another Jaffa pushes Jack inside despite his protests about his knees being weak and a goa'uld nudges Kaylee inside without too much trouble. She nearly runs inside of her own free will. Anything to get away from the cold fingers grasping her arm.

"Right then," Mal says. "I guess this is where we sleep."

Their captors walk away, leaving the three of them alone in the cell. At once, Mal sets about trying to find a way out. Surely there is some way for them to break out. He tells that to Jack but is only offered a shrug in return. "It's no use," Jack says.

"But Kaylee," Mal tries. "And us! Think of us!"

"Not gonna happen," Jack says again.

"Leave Jack alone, Mal," Kaylee says before he can say anything more. "Jack has something planned to get us out. Right?"

Jack smiles awkwardly. "Kinda?"

"Kinda?"

"Better'n your non-existent plan, Capt'n," Kaylee points out.

Mal has nothing to say to that. He continues to search for any weaknesses in the cell and it's nearly a half hour later after multiple walks around the perimeter of their cell, that he finally gives in. He moves to the side of the cell where a bench lines the wall, much the same as the one on the opposite side where Jack and Kaylee are sitting.

It's not long before boredom settles in on him and Mal allows the blackness of sleep to roll over him and take him as its own.

_tbc._


	11. Chapter 11

Much later, a cool breeze caused by the ships' air ducts opening up, ruses Mal from sleep. He frowns as he sits up and tries to recall why he allowed himself the luxury of some shut eye when they're in the situation they are in. He stops wondering when his gaze drifts around the bare walls of their cell and finally meets with Jack's.

"Good morning, sunshine," Jack says brightly, dragging a hand through his silver hair. "Did you sleep well?"

Mal covers a yawn by turning his head to the side, away from Jack's watchful stare. He shifts on the bench he's on and moves into a sitting position which, though still quite uncomfortable, takes the pressure of his side. "Kaylee?" he asks.

"I'm here, Captain. Right beside you." Her voice has lost some of the fear from earlier but not all of it. He suspects the decrease in nervousness is due to sleeping. Sleeping does tend to lessen a person's fear when they wake up once more. It fogs things up and makes them less agitated and concerned until consciousness fully creeps in and the concern present before sleep returns with added force behind it.

A gentle hand pats him on the back and he stiffens. "We'll be okay," Kaylee tells him.

When he looks over, she has a small and very likely forced smile on her face. Her clothing is ruffled and slightly dirtier than normal, a thing he finds ironic as she's usually working in the engine room and has grease all over her. Here, it is much cleaner and all she has really done beyond the normal is get taken prisoner in a cell that wouldn't ever compete with the dirtiness of the engine room on Serenity.

"Yeah," Mal says softly. "We will be."

Jack stares at him for a moment but remains silent.

Leaning back, Mal switches his gaze to the door. "They've not come by to say hello?"

"I think they've given us a fair welcome already," Jack says.

"Not awful happy people, are they?"

"No, Kaylee. I'm afraid not."

"I mean, I get it. They're bad guys. But I ain't even seen one of them smile! It's not normal. Scares me a bit." She ducks her head as she says the last bit and her cheeks flush red.

"Long as we're here, little Kaylee, and all together, we'll do our best to keep you safe. All right?"

She nods slowly. "Yeah."

"You should sleep some more. We need as much strength as we can get for when they do come back." Jack taps his nose with the index finger of his right hand.

"Get some rest, Kaylee." Mal pats her on the arm. He watches as she curls up beside him and closes her eyes. Her breathing slows within fifteen minutes and Mal allows himself to move then. Still on the bench, he pulls his legs up to his chest and rests his head on his knees. If Jack moves at all, he makes no noise as he does so.

Time passes. It's slow and yet at the same time it's moving too fast, bringing them closer by the second to the return of the Jaffa and the goa'uld and their punishment, whatever that might be. There is no way to tell what time of day – or night – it is and they have just each other's company to cling onto as a reminder that they are alive and that this is real.

Mal is still crouched into the corner, his head burrowed into the crook of his elbow, when a voice suddenly hisses at them from outside of the cell. He slowly tilts his head up and stares at Jack. Jack, sitting on the bench across from him in a similar position, stares back. Almost simultaneously the pair turns from each other to look towards the door.

Blonde hair blurs as Sam spins around to look at them and suddenly Mal is drowning in the ocean blue depths of her eyes. He cannot breathe in that moment and it's with a shaky smile that he considers her. "Huh."

He says nothing more; he does not want to break the silence any more than they already have in the case it brings any unwanted attention their way. Rather, he stands and makes his way over to the door, pretending to stretch his legs. He catches the smile Sam throws in his direction before Jack gets up too and joins him.

"Bet you weren't expecting to see me," she smirks.

"Actually," Jack supplies. "I was expecting you a good deal sooner. Before we got caught would have been preferable."

Mal's eyes widen slightly. "Well I for one, wasn't expecting you. And might I say it's awful nice of you to drop by and visit like this."

"I do enjoy dropping by to see friends," Sam agrees. "I don't have any C4 this time so we can't blow them up though. This is a simple rescue mission and no more." With that, she moves off to the side and begins to fiddle with something on the right of the door.

"What're you doing?" Mal asks.

"She's getting us out," Jack hisses as if it's the most obvious thing.

Considering that they are trapped and Sam is on the outside, Mal decides it is an obvious deduction to make. He nods. "That makes sense."

"Yeah. Right." Running slender fingers through greying hair, Jack lets out a sigh.

"You okay?" Sam whispers.

"I'm fine," he replies.

"Mal? How about you?"

Mal nods.

"Kaylee?"

Kaylee who had spent most of the time in the cell sitting up, wide-eyed and alternating her gaze between Mal, Jack, the door and an insect that must have been transferred off their clothing, jerks slightly at the sound of her name. Her arms are wrapped defensively around her middle, creasing the pink top she's wearing. "I..."

"It's okay, sweetie," Sam says. "We'll get you out of here in no time."

"We will?"

"Yes, Mal. We will." She glares at him. "I've nearly got this open."

"How long do you suppose it'll be?" Kaylee asks. "No need to rush or nothing. I just... you know. Usually I'm back on Serenity. Ain't never been my place going out on jobs and such happenings like this one."

"Don't worry yourself," Sam repeats.

Jack smiles at her. "You know what? How would you like to look around our puddle jumper when we get back? You like engines and that sort of thing, do you not?" He shrugs and loops his thumb between the material of his pants and his waist.

A smile flickers on Kaylee's face. She nods slowly back at him. "That would... that would be nice. Might be something we could use to better Serenity," she muses. That thought must stick in her mind because she slips back to the bench and sits silently while Sam continues her work and Jack and Mal watch.

Just as Mal finds the urge to yawn too strong to resist and swipes his mouth with the back of his hand, the door swings open. It makes no sound, a thing all of them are very much grateful for. It could have been that they were able to escape the confines of their cell only to have an alarm set off along the way to alert the ship's passengers of their break out. As it is, they gather together at the door, exchange looks and then move out.

No shrieking harpies or ear-splitting alarms ring out and try to call attention to them. No one yells out to warn others and in fact, no one is there guarding them to know to call out and warn everybody else. They are very much alone in their newfound freedom and they have the entire ship to navigate until they are able to get out. Mal frowns at that thought. Just how are they going to get out? How are they going to evade any goa'uld and Jaffa on the rest of their journey? Will they make it out all in one piece if they make it out at all?

There are too many questions leaving doubt in his mind. Uncertainty clouds their plans of escape and it fogs things up enough that Mal wants nothing more than to crawl up in a ball and sleep until the others can find a way out of their situation. He doesn't do that though. He's not the type to back down from a fight. Well, he is, as Inara would say. But then, in this situation he's sure he won't back down. There is more at stake here than there usually is and so it is something that he will see through until the end. He will do what it takes to face this and he will either die trying or he will succeed and have another tale he can share with the crew when he gets drunk to relieve some of the tension.

Speaking of tension, his back aches something fierce from the hardness of the bench he was lying on. He can feel the start of a headache coming on too. Must be hunger that's causing it. He can't remember the last time he ate anything. "This might be outta place but is there a kitchen around here?" he asks, genuinely wanting to know.

Jack scoffs while Sam holds back a smirk and offers him a shrug. "We don't know the layout of this ship, sorry. We've seen plenty of goa'uld ships in our time but this one is a new model to us."

"Of course," Mal says.

"I have half a chocolate bar though if you want a bite of that. It might help keep us going." Without waiting for him to respond, she takes from her pocket a rectangular shape covered in silver foil. She begins to tear away the wrapping, breaks off a square of chocolate and hands it to him through the bars. She gives the next square to Kaylee, retrieves one for Jack and herself and then shoves the rest back into the depths of her pocket.

"S'good," Mal says.

"Really good," Kaylee agrees. "I haven't had chocolate in... a very long while!"

"Ain't a luxury we can much afford, little one," Mal points out.

Jack mutters something to Sam that he can't quite make out and then straightens up.

"So how'd you get onboard?" Mal asks as Sam returns to the control panel to finish her work and close the door behind them. There's a click and then the door shuts. Mal's eyes widen slightly and he stares at her for a moment. He grins. "Nicely done there!"

"Thank you," Sam smirks.

He glances from her blue eyes to the panel beside the door and back again and it hits him that they should get moving again.

"Onwards we go?" Jack suggests.

"Let's leave this place in the dust."

_tbc_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Sorry for the slight delay on this part. I just started back at uni last week so things have been a bit crazy with that! I hope you enjoy this part. Thanks to all who have left a review!**_

They leave no dust behind them but they do leave the cell empty. Mal announces to the others as they turn the corner, that it looks lonely without them in it.

"You're welcome to go back if you want to keep it company," Jack says.

Mal lets out a short, unamused chuckle. "Think I'll be fine without doing that."

"Are you sure?"

"Couldn't be more certain in actual fact."

Sam holds a hand up to silence them and they fall against the wall, each trying to blend into the shadows. Mal has to pull Kaylee back at first, before she realises what's going on. He covers her mouth with one hand and her eyes light up with understanding and fear as the heavy footsteps of a Jaffa passes them by in a hallway crossing the one they are in.

The Jaffa disappears from sight. Twenty intense seconds go by in which all they do is breathe in air that really should be stuffier what with them being on a ship and all. They don't speak. They barely move. Jack lifts a hand formed into a fist and makes a few gestures.

Sam nods and then sneaks up the hall. She peers around the corner to check for more Jaffa. She pulls her head back quickly but doesn't raise her gun or aim it at anything in particular. Must be nothing, Mal decides. Speaking of nothing, it's a whole lot of nothing that he's doing here and a whole lot of nothing planning going on that he's knowing about.

The planning, if there is any, has so far been that done by Sam and maybe Jack. Did Jack have anything to do with Sam showing up? If Jack had not been captured alongside Kaylee and himself would they be getting rescued right now? And for that matter, how was it Sam had gotten aboard without anyone noticing and made it to them without being captured herself? She never did answer when he asked before.

Mal runs his tongue across his lips, wetting them. He breathes in deeply and exhales. He waits and watches Sam as she nods and then moves into the next hallway and disappears around the corner. Glancing at Jack and then Kaylee, he nods. Jack moves off and Kaylee follows. The air seems to thin out and he swipes the back of his hand against his forehead where he can feel beads of sweat beginning to form.

They continue their journey through the ship's halls for another twenty minutes before Sam comes to a stop and cocks her gun. Finally there is something blocking their path. He should have known their free run would only last for so long. All good things must come to an end, he once heard. This must be one of those situations. Not that being trapped on a ship is a good thing. The fact they've had the luck of escaping a cell to move about through the workings of the ship, however, is – or was – good news to some extent. It means – or meant – that freedom is – was – a step closer.

The freedom they fought for is now slipping through his fingers like sand. This is nearly the end. He can feel it. They are close to recapture and they are not going to escape from their cell this time – assuming they are put in another cell and not just done away with because they're too much trouble, more trouble than is worth putting up with.

"What're we doing, stopping here?" Mal asks. "Thought we had an exit your girl here knows of."

"This 'girl'," Sam says, "knows exactly where we're headed and how we're getting out of here. It just so happens we're stopping for a moment."

"Why?"

"Just. Listen to her," Jack suggests.

Beside him, Kaylee smirks. "The captain never was a patient one. Not many of his plans turn out quite as anyone's expecting neither much."

"Listen to Sam," Jack says again.

"So, Sam," Mal says. "What's the plan?"

She doesn't answer him in words. Rather, she smiles mysteriously at him and beckons to him with one finger to follow her. Moving off again, she creeps forwards until she reaches a door. She enters and so Mal, Jack and Kaylee do the same. Her plan becomes clear immediately.

Inside the room, walkways of a steel-like material twist in and out of various docking stations. Sitting at each of the stations is a shuttle-like structure. Most of them are identical, with domes out the front to provide the occupant an excellent view of what's happening outside. They are a grey colour, some with stripes of red lining them. All of them are marked clearly with a distinctive symbol.

"What's that?" Kaylee asks.

Jack glances at her. "It's a hieroglyph. I think. Daniel would be much better equipped to answer that. But it's like... it's a call sign. Like... call the number on the sign and they will come."

She looks at him blankly. "Who will come?"

Sam sighs. "Just ignore Jack here. He likes to play games."

"Right. Games." Kaylee smiles weakly.

"Oh no! This isn't a game. Not at all," Jack says.

"Then what is it?"

"Erm."

"Exactly what I thought," Sam says, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, I –"

Mal, having lost interest in their conversation, sees a glimmer of movement from beside one of the ships at the docking stations. "You guys? I don't mean to intrude but we got company."

"Huh?" Jack says, cocking his gun.

"Company. People who are not us."

"Yes, I know that! I meant where?"

Mal lets out an exasperated sigh and shakes his head. He grasps his gun, takes aim and shoots at whatever it was that moved. As the bullet leaves his gun and there's a loud cracking noise, he reconsiders his move. Surely the sound will have reached the ears of someone else onboard, someone who'd be very happy to see them all caught and then tortured or killed or both at the slimy hands of Chemok. Chemoose? Chemo-whatever.

On the upside, there's a heavy thunk as a body falls to the ground. His aim was perfect and that sends him a warm fuzzy feeling inside. It never does get old, hitting a target with such precision. Each time it is like a rush, a feeling of absolute satisfaction. He is damn good at what he does and even if that's maybe not the right thing according to some others, it's what he does and that there is something.

He cringes at the looks Jack and Sam give him. Even Kaylee is glaring at him, her usually cute smile swapped for a foul little pout. "Aww, captain! What did you do that for?"

"They must have heard that," Sam says.

Mal shakes his head in disbelief. "Whatever. Let's get the hell outta here before they catch up and are present while you guys knock me down a bit. I'd rather not have an audience while you do that."

"Two to a shuttle," Sam says.

"How do we-"

"I'll fly one and Jack'll take the other." She pauses. "Nothing against you Mal but we know what we're doing here."

"And I don't?"

Jack smirks. "Are we not remembering the bullet and the very loud noise it made?"

"Funny." Mal scowls. "We gonna go or what?"

Without another word, Sam hurries over to a shuttle and sits inside. Jack takes another and Kaylee scuttles in behind him, leaving a spot behind Sam for Mal. "You coming?" she calls to him. He nods and joins her.

There's another loud bang and Mal's body jerks in surprise. "Wha?"

Sam fiddles with the complex looking control panel of the shuttle as she explains. "They heard you fire before."

"Right."

_tbc_


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry again for the lateness! Real life has been crazy lately and I've barely had time to write or post any new stories. I hope you guys are all good. :) Enjoy this next part! **

Soon they are in the air, dodging staff weapon blasts and high-tailing it for the open sky. Sam presses a button on a remote and while the doors behind them lock, the entire wall of the ship in front of them lifts off to set them free. Jack and Kaylee zoom out ahead of them. A single fiery blast grazes the left wing of their shuttle but doesn't cause enough damage to knock them out of the sky. Sam and Mal make it out unscathed and Mal sends a smirk back at the two Jaffa unlucky enough to be in the room without protective gear or a ship around them to keep them alive.

"Is it just me," Mal asks, "or was that far too easy?" He's not able to make out Sam's expression what with her having her back to him. Judging by the snort of laughter she lets out, she doesn't quite believe him.

"That was easy?" she asks. "I hate to think what you and your crew do on a daily basis if that's what you think."

"I thought you did this stuff all the time too."

"True. But we usually avoid capture. Getting captured tends to complicate things and slow us down."

"Hmm." Mal presses a finger to his lips and stares at the back of her head.

"What?" she asks.

"Nothing. I just... nothing."

"Okay then?" She tilts her head to the side as if trying to look back at him but thinks better of it and straightens up again. One of her hands goes to the helmet she's wearing and she presses in a button. There's a burst of static. "This is Sam speaking. Jack? Kaylee? Are you guys all right? Over."

A moment passes by before they respond in which Sam sits tensely and barely moves and Mal watches her back. Then there is more static and the gravelly sound of Jack's voice. "We're good," he says. "How're you holding up? That Mal guy hasn't driven you insane yet, has he?"

"I can hear you!" Mal says.

"I know." Jack's ship levels with theirs and immediately, Mal can make out the smirk on Jack's face.

"I'll have you know that's not funny. No one is laughing." There's a slight giggle over the comm. "Kaylee! Hey! I thought you were on my side."

"Maybe she was in the past," Jack suggests. "But she's on my team now. Aren't ya, Kaylee?"

"I'm not gonna answer that," she replies quickly. "Either way I'm making someone sad."

"Aww. You can be on my team, Kaylee," Sam says. "Beats having to decide which of the boys is less annoying." Her tone is teasing but still, she earns two grunts of protest from them.

Mal prods her gently in the back. "So what now, oh great one?"

"Now, we find land."

"Or we could just radio in Serenity and get her to pick us up."

"That's impossible. Serenity is in another galaxy – the goa'uld ship made a hyper jump through space soon after we all boarded."

"And if I'm correct, Serenity was caught up and made the jump right along with us," Mal tells her, grinning widely. "Try it. Call them up." He fills her in on the frequencies they use and she reaches again for the comm albeit hesitantly.

"Don't get your hopes up, okay? There's a chance they didn't get pulled a long for the ride. They could still be back where we left them."

"Yeah, yeah. Just do it."

She nods, sets the frequency and presses the button to speak. "This is Sam Carter calling for the Serenity."

"It's just Serenity," Mal hisses.

"Serenity, sorry. Calling for Serenity. Over."

Static crackles. Outside the shuttle, Mal can see the dark sky stretching out for as far as the eye can see. He cannot however see Serenity. If he is in fact right, Serenity must be...

"We're right behind you. Uh. Over?"

"It's nice to hear your voice!" Sam turns nearly fully around to grin at Mal. "I guess you were right."

"It does indeed seem that way."

"Indeed," a new voice joins Wash's on the radio.

"Teal'c! How are you?" Sam exclaims.

"I am fine. How are you?" he replies.

"Didn't you get shot? And yeah, I'm fine too."

"Indeed."

Sam hesitates and so Mal takes the initiative and replies for her. "Did it hurt?"

"It did." There's confusion in his voice as if he can sense something isn't quite right. "Are you all right, Malcolm Reynolds?"

"I'm great!"

Teal'c's voice booms over the comm system. "You do not sound it."

"Anyway, are we gonna get outta here or what? You guys are taking your time rescuing us, ya know. Zoe there?"

"I'm here, sir," Zoe confirms.

"Good. Now I know there's someone there with a bite of sense. Let us on?" Mal asks.

"Sure, sir. We're working on it now. Wash says it'll be another ten minutes or so."

"Ah. Great."

"Time which can be spent mocking you," Zoe adds, "if that's okay with you, sir?"

He intentionally bangs his head against the back of Sam's chair and remains there, unmoving. It's just typical that Zoe would do that. It really is. His one last hope and she's cutting him down too along with the rest of the crew. His crew. And Jack and Sam and Daniel and Teal'c. All of them are poking fun of him on his boat. Don't seem right. He tells them all that.

"Oh, toughen up," Jack says once Sam's got him on the line too and explained their situation. "You'll live."

"I never considered for a moment that I wouldn't live," Mal shoots back.

"Not even just one second?"

"Not even."

"Hmm."

"We're ready for you, Mal," Wash announces. "You guys do your stuff and we'll have you onboard in no time."

No time ends up being fifteen minutes and by the time they are back onboard, sleep is the most prominent thought on all of their minds. "How's about we all rest up," Mal suggests once they've all gathered in the mess hall. "We can deal with the other thing after."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Is it a safe plan though? We can't forget Mal's history with plan making and the whole disaster thing that tends to follow like one of those adorable little beagles – which we really must try transporting one day. It would be a trip of fun and cuteness. And less droppings than cows! That's a plus. Also if you consider-"

"Wash."

"If you consider," Wash tries again.

"Wash! Shut up."

"Okay. Fine." He glances around at a roomful of amused faces, and Mal's annoyed one. His frown fades when Zoe wraps her arms around his middle from behind and rests her chin on his shoulder. "Hi, honey."

"Hey you," she replies. "So I recall there being a plan about going to bed?"

_tbc_


	14. Chapter 14

"Indeed," Teal'c replies.

"Mal, I have to agree with Wash on this," Zoe says. Wash lights up at that statement. "See, sir. If they retaliate and come after us-"

"I don't think you quite get what I'm thinking," Mal fills her in. "_We_ sleep. Those of us who been out all day and been busy getting kidnapped."

"And the rest of us, sir?" Zoe narrows her eyes. Beside her, Sam looks confused.

"The rest of you are to figure a way we can hijack that boat there so we can get ourselves – and Sam's people – back where we all belong."

"But Mal!" Inara is first to react. "That's suicide! If you go in there, surely they will outnumber you. How will you get out alive?"

"Been outnumbered many a time and come out more or less unscathed on the other end. Didn't think we'd be adding a time to that, but here we are. We can do it again and we will. Only this time we'll have these guys," he says, gesturing towards Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Daniel, "on our side."

Inara frowns but doesn't speak as Wash is too quick for her.

"Well, what I don't get is what the hell do you want to hijack that ship for in the first place?" Wash adds oh so helpfully.

"And how do you figure we'll be on your side?" Daniel says.

"I have one answer for both those questions," Mal says and there's a glint in his eyes as he looks at them.

"Oh yeah?" Jack says.

"Yep," Sam confirms. "He's pretty smart figuring it out, sir. Didn't expect he would, to be honest. No offense, Mal."

"Right." He draws out the word.

"What is this plan then?" Kaylee says. Her voice is soft and they all turn to peer at her before staring pointedly at Mal.

Mal grins some more. "Hyperdrive."

"Hyper- what?" Jayne scratches behind one ear with one hand and tags a quick swig of whatever alcohol he's managed to gleam with his free hand. The flask shines silver under the lighting. "S'that when you go wacko when you're driving or some such? Or some kinda driving race?"

"It is not." Teal'c eyes Jayne as if he's just caught sight of a gorilla taking a shower and wearing a shower cap to keep water from getting in its eyes.

"What is it then?"

"The hyperdrive is a device that allows our ships to move through space," Sam explains. "It has the capability to travel at the speed of light – which," she adds, "is really fast."

"And what's that gotta do with us?" Kaylee asks.

"If we can get a hold of that technology, we can find a way home. As it is we're in the wrong galaxy. We need to jump back to where we were before. That would be your galaxy. And then the four of us," she says, gesturing at herself, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c, "will jump the rest of the way to our home's galaxy which is further out."

"How'd you know all that?"

"She's really very smart," Daniel says helpfully. "It's her thing."

Kaylee nods her agreement.

Book smiles thinly. "You do sound very knowledgeable in this area. What do you do exactly?"

"I'm an astrophysicist."

"What does that involve?"

"It deals with the physics of the universe. How things work, the physical properties of cosmic bodies like galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets and those sorts of things."

"Wow," Mal says.

Sam merely shrugs. "I've been doing it for years now. I've wanted to travel in space since I was a little girl. Didn't expect to see any space cowboys though!"

"There are no cows in space," Jack supplies helpfully. "Lack of air, I think."

"There are cows on the planets though," Jayne fills him in. "Plenty of 'em. Seen 'em myself, 'cept most are branded and behind guard so's we don't get to have steak often."

Jack raises an eyebrow at him and then glances at Mal. "He for real?"

"Yeah. There really are cows down planetside. And steak is a rare meal here."

"Ha. Funny."

Mal lets out a heavy sigh and drags his fingers through his hair. As he does so, he notices Rivers' small figure slip inside the room and perch on the edge of the table. Simon goes to her side at once and immediately sets about checking her forehead for her temperature. He leans in and whispers something to her, which she pulls a face at and then more or less ignores. Mal smirks.

"Time we rest up now. Wash, you got some hours in before, I heard?"

"Yeah, captain," Wash agrees.

"You good to keep Serenity floatin' and outta the way of trouble for a few hours? Keep her close enough that we don't lose the goa'uld ship but far enough they don't fire upon us."

"I'll do what I can, sir."

"I shall help," Teal'c chips in.

"Right. Because that's a thing needs help doing." Jayne takes out his knife, spits on it and begins to clean it with the corner of the sheet Kaylee had thrown over the table earlier. Beside River, Simon looks on in disgust.

"Sounds like a plan," Mal says. "We'll sort out the rest come a few hours time. Won't do any of us good to go back to that place without some form of sleep."

They all drift away to their various rooms for the night and after the quiet chatter calms down, Serenity is silent but for the gentle humming of her engines and the breathing of her crew and guests.

Come morning – or rather, eight or so hours later – Mal has woken everyone up and debriefed them on the rest of his plan. No one outright disagrees with his ideas though Sam and Jack offer up a few bits of information he wasn't aware of previously and he alters a few things slightly to fit. It's a real shame really. Some of the bits he ends up cutting out are the parts of the plan he liked the most about it.

Sighing, he agrees to certain changes though and he makes it through til the end of their gathering. Done with that, he takes some time to himself down in his bunk, for last minute preparations. It takes a few minutes to strap multiple weapons to his person and ensure they'll all stay in place. He calls up Jayne on the comm system and requests that he brings along grenades.

_tbc_


	15. Chapter 15

Finally, Mal takes a last look around his bunk, breathes in deeply and then exhales, and climbs up the ladder to meet the others in the cargo bay. Zoe joins him on his way there. Similarly attired with guns and knives and other weapons, her leather outfit accentuates her body perfectly. Her hair is pulled back and clipped back out of the way. She smiles grimly.

"Ready, sir?"

"Ready as a person can be when facing imminent death," Mal replies, absently plucking at his suspenders. "You?"

"To the job, sir."

"Great."

Zoe hesitates for a moment.

"What?" he asks.

"Do you really think this is going to work? It seems a bit of a risk."

"Can't get the goods without putting our necks out a bit, Zoe. You know that."

She nods. "I do. But it still applies. It is a suicide mission, Mal. It's likely some of us won't make it out."

"We owe this to ourselves," he says. "We do this, we can get back to our own galaxy. Which, Wash said, would be a good thing considering out here we'd be dodging more of those goa'uld things on a daily basis, most like."

"He told me that too," Zoe replies.

"That's good then. We're agreed."

"If we go back, there are Reavers. Here, we have goa'uld. What is the difference, really? We could start fresh here and-"

"No. We can't and we won't. It's not our place."

"There'd be less enemies and more jobs for us."

"Maybehaps," he says, "but then maybe not. This isn't our home, Zoe."

"Serenity is our home, sir."

"She is, yeah."

They exchange a look and Zoe sighs. "Let's do this before I change my mind."

"You're with me?"

"Always, sir."

Without another word, they take the last few metres down the hall and into the mess where the rest of the crew and their guests are milling about. Weapon checks and last minute details are fussed over by some. The others deal with the upcoming battle in their own ways. River marches up to Teal'c at one point and asks him "does junior want to come out and play?". Though Mal has no idea what that even means, Teal'c looks perplexed but not confused about her words. Mal shrugs it off as a reaction to what they're preparing for.

He does a last check over of his own weapons and closes his eyes for a moment to prepare himself.

"Are you all right?" Inara places a hand over his wrist. The warmth of her fingertips soaks into his skin immediately, but he jerks slightly at the sudden and unexpected contact.

"Whoa! Yeah. I'm fine," he replies. "Just... don't do that again, okay?"

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle."

"It's fine. Aren't you supposed to be off helping Wash with some such?"

"No. He said he's fine on his own. I thought I'd be of more use here."

Mal narrows his eyes at her but doesn't argue. What's the point now? "I don't know how but okay."

Inara smiles thinly and nods to his right. Turning, he sees Daniel strapping his gun in place. His hair flops over the tops of his glasses; his fingers are nimble as they push the hair away. Daniel, as if sensing eyes on him, glances up. When he sees both Mal and Inara watching him, he blinks a few times and then he pats down his front and walks over to them.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, shiny," Mal replies.

"You were staring at me."

"Were we?" he brushes it off.

"Yes," Daniel confirms.

"I didn't realise," Mal lies. He grins cockily. Inara rolls her eyes beside him. "We'll make our way over now in any case if you and your people are ready for some tough times."

"Oh we've been ready for a while now," Daniel says.

Mal stares at him a moment longer and then strides closer to the assembled group. "Everybody, listen up! We're gonna head over to this goa'uld ship now." He pauses and gives time for everyone to digest that information. "Okay! Time to go kick some goa'uld butt!"

_tbc_


	16. Chapter 16

They move to the cargo bay and take up position. The comm system splutters to life and Wash's voice comes through clear. "Took some fair navigating but I got us hooked up and ready to board."

Five minutes later they're moving one by one onto the goa'uld ship. Guns held at midsections and prepped to fire, they are all on alert. As they move onwards, the light dims and it grows cooler not just in temperature but in demeanor. The whole ship has a bad feel about it. It's like there's some form of evil, a spirit perhaps, slinking through the narrow halls and standing over them.

Mal cringes at that thought. His thoughts are turning more and more like River's, he's found. Sometimes he finds himself wondering about things in a way he never previously would have. Girl's rubbed on off him somehow, not an easy feat.

He eyes the next part of the ship where the path they're following breaks off into three distinctive hallways. Gesturing to Jack, he signals which way he's going and leaves them to choose their own halls to turn down. Further back, he knows Zoe will take the third path and the others will provide back up.

It's when he turns the next corner that he comes across his first Jaffa. In a moment of complete insanity, his thoughts narrow in on splenda. It's wonderful stuff, he's found. It's not often the crew get a hold of the stuff but all the times they do have it in their possession it's a luxury they all enjoy.

The Jaffa raises his wooden stick – a staff weapon, Teal'c had warned them all – and fires. A fireball scrapes by Mal's shoulder, searing his shirt. Luckily he had ditched his brown coat for this one! There'd have been hell to pay if that had gotten wrecked. As it is, the Jaffa hasn't annoyed him quite that much, though he has still annoyed him. Mal straightens up, aims his gun and shoots the Jaffa in one swift motion.

The Jaffa drops his staff weapon, holds his chest where the bullet pierced him and stumbles to the ground with blood dripping through his fingertips. Another two Jaffa appear leaving Mal little time to celebrate his achievement. He ducks the next five blasts of fire before he's able to get in and shoot at one Jaffa. That Jaffa falls too, and the other charges him to fight hand to hand.

A knock on his side from the staff weapon catches Mal off-guard and he flounders about for a moment, trying to get back his balance. In that time, the Jaffa is able to pound him with heavy fists and then get shot by Teal'c. Panting, Mal uses the wall to push himself up. "Thanks."

Teal'c tilts his head in a nod.

"Behind you!" Teal'c spins around but Mal can tell he'll not be able to fight off the attacking Jaffa on time. Reaching for his sidearm, Mal takes aim and fires. "Just returning the favour," he says with a smirk, when Teal'c raises an eyebrow at him.

"Thank you. We should keep moving."

"Yeah."

More hallways and eight more Jaffa come their way before they slow down. Tiring as it might be though, they cannot stop for a break and the slight movement off to the right catches Mal's eyes. He raises his gun and waits.

Blonde hair peeks out and Sam's face comes into view. Looking pointedly at him and then gesturing further up, she disappears from sight once more. Mal catches on and follows her. Teal'c remains only six and a half steps behind him and watches his six.

It turns out Sam's 'follow me' gesture was for good reason. Jack, Daniel and Zoe are fighting against six Jaffa. Three are already knocked out and on the floor. The rest must have appeared after they fought those ones off. With Mal, Teal'c, Sam and Book added to the mix, they're able to take the pressure off of the trio and beat down the Jaffa.

"Well those guys are definitely not all hugs and kittens," Zoe says when they're standing amid the fallen bodies. She taps the end of her gun.

"That's a thing I'm very thankful of," Mal replies with a smirk.

"Why would that be, sir?"

"I imagine he would be deterred by the cuteness?" Daniel suggests.

"Yeah, that must be it," Zoe agrees.

"Hey, now! Remember who you're talking to. It's my ship you're all wanting to get back on when all this is sorted, is it not?"

"Actually," Daniel starts.

Zoe cuts him off. "Mal!"

"What?"

"We got company."

Mal turns as Teal'c, Jack and Zoe open fire. There, looking as if he just stepped out of an ad on the cortex for an expensive item being marketed by the Alliance, is Chemosh. The cloak he wears is yellow and goes all the way to the ground. From beneath the veil on his head, dark, longish hair falls and frames his pale face.

None of the bullets hit him. They seem instead to bounce off an unseen barrier surrounding his body.

"Ya know," Jack says. "Those force fields are mighty annoying things."

Chemosh smiles.

Sam shakes her head slightly and adds. "Of course that's only when you use weapons to fight against them. Right, sir?"

"I do recall hand to hand working quite well last time," he agrees. "Or you know, dagger to hand."

The smile on Chemosh's face fades. Mal realises what's being hinted at and so lunges at Chemosh, sliding a knife from the holster at his hip as he does so. He pounds into Chemosh who drops his staff weapon and aims a punch for Mal's jaw. A string of blood leaves Mal's mouth. He gags on it and struggles with Chemosh for control. Chemosh's next punch misses and Mal throws his own fist in. He hits Chemosh's upper arm which has little effect – but then he's able to get a hold of Chemosh's wrist.

"What? No back up?" Mal taunts.

Chemosh is too busy trying to get out of Mal's grip on him to respond. He finally breaks free and panting, he calls out, "Jaffa, Kree!" The bodies of Jaffa, dead and injured on the floor around him, seem not to dampen his efforts in calling out. "Tau'ri, you will pay!"

"Did you say tacos?" Simon asks.

Mal glances back to see him standing behind the others with Book and Jayne. He turns and grabs Chemosh again.

"Nah, he didn't say tacos," Jayne tells him like he's an idiot. "He said tawny. Like the bird thing."

"The owl?" Book asks.

"Yeah. That's what I said."

"Actually," Daniel fills them in, "it was tau'ri that he said. It's goa'uld for human beings. People. You and me."

"Oh," Mal says.

"Indeed," Teal'c confirms.

Chemosh takes the opportunity to free himself of Mal while he's distracted and pound him in the face. "Hey, ow!" Mal spits out more blood.

Smirking, Chemosh runs down the hall away from them all. Teal'c and Jack immediately chase after him and in seconds, there is the sound of gunfire and screams of pain.

Jayne shifts from one foot to the other. He scratches his head. He stands and does nothing but breathe for ten seconds. And then he lifts one shoulder in a half shrug. "Do you think we should help 'em?"

There's a metallic clang and another scream. Something crashes against a wall, resulting in a heavy bang. More screaming fills the air and then there is silence.

_tbc._


	17. Chapter 17

A search brings up no new Jaffa but they do find a few goa'uld trying to escape via shuttles. Their attempts are cut short and Mal earns himself another scar – or maybe two, he's not certain – in the process.

Done with that, Book and Zoe join the others in locking away the dead and injured Jaffa and Jack and Mal join those toying with the engines and flight control.

Sam glances up when they enter and says, "We've just called Wash to make sure things are all okay on Serenity's end."

"And are they?"

"A few Jaffa got across. We must have missed them."

"And you're tellin' me this now! We need people there to help them!"

"Actually, we don't," Sam states.

"What? Of course we do! Got three fine ladies and a pilot ain't much of a fighter left over there and not nobody to protect them!"

"Wash told me to say that River did her thing. I believe you'd know what he means by that?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers, Mal considers this new piece of information. "River did her thing."

"Yes," Sam says, enunciating it slowly. "Do you understand?"

"I think I do," he replies with a sigh. "I'd best get over and check all is well in any case. Don't want my boat going down when there's something could be done about it."

"Serenity isn't going down, Mal. Your ship is fine."

"I'll believe that when I've had a chance to check and see for my own self." He's off as Sam utters another protest and in less than ten minutes he has weaved his way through the halls of the goa'uld ship and climbed aboard Serenity.

When Mal arrives, the cargo bay is empty. There is no noise beyond the normal gentle hum of Serenity's engines. No one is talking. There are no footsteps. There is just the ship and her calming presence. It stays that way until he has reached the hall leading to the mess. Kaylee runs past him first, he presumes, on her way to the engine room for something or other. River is close behind her, grinning like crazy.

Raising an eyebrow, Mal continues on. The mess is clear of any people and for a moment the silence returns and wraps him in its warm embrace. Shrugging off the sudden feeling of discomfort he gets, he heads for the bridge, where again, the peace is cut in half – or more accurately perhaps, shattered into tiny little pieces that will never fit back together properly.

Wash is frantically pressing buttons and Inara is peering over his shoulder with concern all over her face. On the ground behind them both are two Jaffa. Mal watches them for a moment and they show no signs that they are breathing. Dead. Somehow the lesser fighters of the crew managed to save their own butts and kill two hefty Jaffa twice the size of Wash.

"How'd you do it?" Mal asks.

Inara jumps, swearing in Chinese when she realises it's him, while Wash bumps his head on the panel above him and grunts in pain.

"The Jaffa," Mal says. "How'd you kill them?"

"We didn't," Inara tells him quietly. "It was River."

"River did this? I know it's like she can read thoughts sometimes, like she has some sixth sense that allows her to know more than she should. Are you saying maybe there's more to her creepiness than we first thought?"

"Might be so, captain," Wash says.

"Could be something set her off and whatever it was led her to..." Mal gestures at the bodies.

"Yes. Maybe. Though I think it's more likely they just upset her. I mean, psychic? I'm not convinced." Wash shrugs and slides back under the panel to fiddle with some wires.

"In any case, what're you doing down there?" Mal joins Inara in squinting down at him.

"Just fixing something."

"Fixing what exactly?"

"Oh, you know," Wash says.

"Actually I don't. If I knew I wouldn't be asking."

"Hmm."

"He thinks the Jaffa got to the controls and messed some of the wiring up before River got to them," Inara fills him in.

"Are we gonna have a problem?"

"Noooo." Wash holds a wire coated in plastic between his teeth. He pulls out the wire and glances up. "I mean, no. We're all hooked up so when Sam gets the hyperdrive working on the goa'uld ship over there, we'll be able to hang on and make the jump with them."

"So it's not going to be a problem."

"Not unless after the jump I can't figure it out," Wash replies. "I'll get Kaylee up here again soon to help. She's just gone to make sure the engine is fine and get some more parts for me."

"Okay, shiny. Just remember: my ship crash, you crashed her."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, sir. I will be very careful with her. I'll treat her like I treat my dinosaurs, with utmost respect and love."

Mal rolls his eyes. "All right then. Can you get Sam on the radio?"

Wash gestures at the controls further above the ones he's playing with. "That's the button right there."

"Right." Mal presses it in. "Sam? You there? Over."

He waits.

"Yeah, Mal. I'm here," she responds. "We're almost ready. Over."

"Call me when it's all set up for the jump. Over."

"Won't be long now. I'll let you know. Over."

Inara steps up beside Mal and when he's turned off the transmitter, asks, "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"No. But this works in their favour more than it does ours. I've a fair notion we got nothing to worry about here."

"Have you talked with Zoe about it?"

"Yeah, of course."

"And she's okay with it?"

Mal frowns but nods. "Yeah. She's fine with it."

Inara is silent for a moment. Just as Mal thinks she's deserted talking to him for listening to Wash scuttle about at Serenity's wiring, she places a hand on his arm. "Are you all right, Mal?"

"Yeah, fine."

"I'm serious. A lot has happened today and I wouldn't be surprised if you're not feeling quite yourself."

The radio stutters to life. "Mal? We're all set. Over."

"The hyperdrive thingy is ready?"

"Yes. Is everything okay on your end?"

He smiles grimly. "Serenity might be in a peck of trouble but nothing can't be fixed later. She's hooked up and fine for the jump."

"Great. Preparing the hyperdrive now."

Mal steps closer to the front window of Serenity and looks out over the dark stretch of sky. It's so black and dense and there is barely a speck of light, symbolising a planet or a star, in sight. Behind them, he knows is a star cluster and the universe they jumped into earlier when the goa'uld essentially kidnapped them.

There's a low hum from the goa'uld ship. Mal grabs a hold of the back of the pilot's chair and gestures to Inara to sit down and hold on. "Might get bumpy," he tells her.

_tbc._


	18. Chapter 18

"Okay, in five, four, three, two-" Sam says and suddenly their surroundings are changing, whirring, speeding by in a blur and in what feels like two seconds they're out of it again and back to hanging in the sky.

Wash gets up and checks the screen. "We've got Cirec back on the map, Mal! And there's Splanche and Tarnos. We're back in our ol' neighbourhood again. Feels good, don't it?" He grins. "Where's my wife?"

"She'll be over soon," Mal says absently. With that, he leaves Inara and Wash to watch the sky and continue fiddling with the control panel. He's back on the goa'uld ship and in less than fifteen minutes has made his way to Sam, Jack, Teal'c and Book in the control room. They're all gathered around, talking and presumably making plans for where to go next.

"And then once Serenity is ready for flight – Mal mentioned something needs fixing – we'll make another jump back to our galaxy. We can ditch the goa'uld ship on another planet and use the Stargate to get back home."

"Our people will send more to research the goa'uld ship later," Daniel adds to Sam's explanation.

"Fun times will be had by all," Jack concludes. "Greetings, Malcolm."

"Uh, hi?"

"How's the problem on Serenity going?" Sam asks.

Teal'c steps forwards and is suddenly towering over Mal. "Will you be requiring Samantha's assistance?"

"Yeah, I think we might. Wash was still workin' on it when I left."

"I can call ahead," Sam suggests. She picks up the radio and makes a quick call to Wash. Mal watches her without taking in many of the words as she and Wash go back and forth with details about the wiring and engine and how it's all set up or some such. He's not entirely certain what it's all about and unless it means he'll be affected in some big way, he doesn't rightly care.

Sam's eyes, he notes, are the bluest eyes he has quite possibly seen. They sparkle brightly, an ocean blue, and contrast perfectly with her sandy blonde hair and the sharp but soft angles of her face. She whisks a strand of hair from her eyes and her lips continue to move along as she speaks with Wash. Her lips are entrancing. Coated in a clear balm, they call out to the male instincts and Mal gulps as thoughts he should probably not be entertaining go through his mind.

Whatever it is about her, he's certain nothing will come of the things he is feeling. He has seen the way she looks at Jack. Her eyes hold a passion in them when they're together that he hasn't seen her wear at any other time. They have something going on, whether it is out in the open or not and whether they have confronted it or not. He could have sworn that he caught Sam staring at him earlier though. Maybe he's made the wrong assumption about Sam and Jack. Those types of things aren't really his strong suit, after all. Kaylee'd tell that to any soul would listen.

He sighs. Does it really matter anyway? Does any of it matter? As long as they're all still flying, all still in the sky and breathing air, does it mean a damn thing? Does it mean anything that he feels compelled to return to Serenity, his girl, right now, this minute and that he also has a desire to see Inara again? Right about now an argument with her would be damn nice and normal. He longs for normality to return. And judging by the smile on Sam's face now, he's about to get just that.

"So?" he asks.

"Wash figured out what was wrong and said to pass on to you that the repairs will take him no more than twenty minutes." Sam glances across at Jack and that look in her eyes blossoms again under his gaze. "We'll be home to Earth in no time."

"Ah, great! I was beginning to miss that green and blue lump a little," Jack replies.

"Funny, Jack," Daniel tells him, moving past Mal and joining them. "We've got all the Jaffa and goa'uld locked away. If any of them are still alive and able to get up, they'll have no access to a sarcophagus to resuscitate the others and they'll give us no trouble – or I hope they won't –considering they're behind locked doors."

"Our trip home should go quite smoothly then," Jack says. "That's always nice. It'll be kind of like a cruise."

"Only it'll take much less time," Sam says, smirking.

"Indeed," Teal'c adds.

"So then," Mal says. "My people get on Serenity, we disengage and go on our merry and you go on yours."

"That's the plan," Sam confirms.

"Think you'll be back this way in the future?"

Jack smirks, which Mal doesn't understand at all. It's a simple question and it has relevance. For all he knows they could be back. Right? Sam looks like she's holding back laughter too as do Daniel and even Teal'c, who Mal had not seen show any true emotion on before. It's a might unsettling.

"Something I'm missing here? Or was that question just really funny to you all? You know. Without having any sense at all to why it's funny."

Sam's ability to hold in laughter fails her. She sets off Daniel and Jack, and even Teal'c chuckles a little too.

"No," Daniel says. "It's... you're missing something, yes, but it's not that. It's..."

"It's just that," Sam tries to continue for him.

"We are indeed already in the future," Teal'c explains.

Mal scratches the side of his nose with his index finger. "Huh? What does that even mean?"

"It's... it's nothing, Mal. Don't worry about it." Sam smiles at him. "You know, it's been really nice of you to help us all out though. We appreciate it."

Shrugging, Mal tries not to let how much her words affect him show. "Yeah well. You did good to us too. What we did was the least we could do."

"That's your least?" she teases.

"Oh you'd be surprised."

"Hmm."

The radio spits again. "Guys? Hey, guys?"

"Let me guess," Mal says into the speaker. "Company?"

"Actually, yes. And it doesn't look good at all for us. We haven't got weapons on Serenity and unless you guys do there, we're humped. We're humped good!"

_tbc._


	19. Chapter 19: The Final Chapter

"Do we have weapons online, Sam?" Daniel asks. He leans over the panel.

She types something into the keyboard of the computer and squints at the display screen. Reading the contents of the screen, her expression grows grim. "Not quite. But I can possibly get them up in a few minutes."

"Possibly? I ain't liking the sound of that."

"Nor am I, Jayne," Sam agrees, glancing up at his figure looming in the doorway. "But right now it's our only shot."

"Could we use Vera again?" he asks Mal. "Suit her up an' do that? I'm a good shot, you know I am!"

"You are, Jayne, but this time that's not an option I'll be taking. Let's see how Sam goes with the weapons system."

"They're comin' in fast!" Wash warns.

"But Sam will be faster." Jack pats her on the back. "Won't ya, Sam?"

"Things will go a lot more quickly if you leave me to this." Her fingers are like tree branches swaying in the wind, as they move over the keyboard and type in various commands. The computer monitor beeps every so often and each time it does Mal cringes slightly and tries not to show how it's getting to him.

Sam curses under her breath and he cringes some more. He refuses to talk to her and distract her any further however. A few moments of peace for Sam could mean the continued survival of him and his crew. That's a nice idea. He likes the idea of continued survival. It gives him a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Hope.

"Guys?" Wash's voice comes over the radio again.

"Quiet a few minutes. Sam's working on it," Mal tells him.

"Okay, fine. I know when I'm not wanted," Wash says. "I'll just... sit here and wait to be exploded into tiny itty bitty shards. Carry on."

"Thank you," Mal says, when finally Wash does shut up. "Sorry about that, Sam."

She nods but says nothing. Her fingers begin to blur like the breeze blowing the trees earlier turned to a storm. More beeping follows and there's a desperation in Mal that claws at him and urges him to get moving and do something, anything at all, to help save their ships, when he knows very well there is nothing that he can do. It's up to Sam, a nearly complete stranger, to fix the weapons system and fire on the ship before it blows them all to tiny pieces. It's up to Sam whether they all live or die.

Mal never has liked standing in the background with no way to contribute. The front line is his place, where the action is and where men and women make their beliefs known. He needs to be there and to stand up for what he knows is true and right and he needs to know that he's doing something. Anything.

He taps the fingers of his right hand along his left wrist and clenches his jaw.

"Okay," Sam finally says. "Weapons are online." She presses a series of buttons and types in another command – a password, it looks like – and then glances at Mal. "Ready to fire."

"Go," he says. "Bring those guys down."

She nods and presses a final button. The ship lurches suddenly and Mal can feel the power behind the weapons that are released. It's like a rush through his body. Everything inside of him seethes with the movement even after the weapons have left the ship and are headed for the approaching vessel. The feeling increases when there's impact and it all rolls back on them, sending more and more waves of power at them.

"Wow!"

"Yeah," Sam says.

"It's been destroyed?"

She checks. "Yeah. It has. We're safe to go again."

"Great!" Mal grins. "Would you mind letting my people know we're done here and to meet me over on Serenity?"

"No problem!" She puts the comm system on speaker and her instructions fill the ship. "Hi. This is Sam. I'm passing on a message for Serenity's crew from Mal. If you're onboard the goa'uld ship, we've beaten down the potential problem ship that just appeared and we're ready to head off. If you could all move over to Serenity, Mal will meet you there and the rest of us will be on our way. And I want to thank you all. You're all lovely people and you've been so nice to us. I can only hope we meet again. Good luck, guys! Sam, out."

Sam looks at Mal. "How was that?"

He grins. "That was shiny. Thank you."

"You'd best head over and see to your crew, then!" Sam tells him.

Nodding his agreement, Mal hesitates a moment. "Will we see you again?"

The four people he's come to know as friends, exchange glances. Their expressions are mostly unreadable so he doesn't know what to expect from them when they do answer him.

"We might," Jack says. "But I wouldn't count on it."

"Okay. In that case, good luck to you all and try not to get shot at on your way home." He aims another cocky grin in Sam's direction and then strides back towards Serenity. On the bridge again with his crew sans River and Kaylee gathered around, he watches as Serenity disengages from the goa'uld ship and slowly at first, moves away.

They drift for maybe ten minutes before a call comes through. Wash picks up. "Yeah?"

"Thanks again!" Sam says brightly.

"And au revoir!" Jack adds, amusement in his voice.

Teal'c and Daniel chorus, "Indeed."

There's a flash of light and the goa'uld ship is gone, nowhere to be seen, a feat which amazes Mal. Living through it is one thing. Watching it from the perspective of an outsider is an entirely different matter. It doesn't seem right almost. Of course technology of such advancements are about in the 'verse, but Mal had seen nothing like the goa'uld ship before.

The sky looks empty without the huge ship, but then that's how Mal likes it. His crowded sky is back to its usual old self and they are still in the sky, still flying, still breathing. Nearly half of them are baring injuries which Simon looked to at various stages throughout the whole crazy and yet entirely exciting adventure.

Still, considering what they've been through and where they are now, it doesn't get much better than this.

_fin._


End file.
